Source
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute, 1964-03-09
- Kind
- court record
- Last checked
- 2026-09-26
- Archived copy
- none yet
Cited by
- United States: Montgomery, Alabama commissioner sues The New York Times for libel over a civil rights advertisement
- Claim 821: Sullivan's complaint arose from a full-page advertisement carried in The New York Times on March 29, 1960, and he filed his libel suit later that year.
- Claim 822: A Montgomery County jury awarded Sullivan $500,000, the full amount he sought from The New York Times and four individual petitioners, and the Supreme Court of Alabama affirmed the judgment.
- Claim 823: Sullivan testified that because his duties included supervising the police department, he considered any description of police conduct a reflection on him personally.
- Claim 825: The Supreme Court held that a public official may not recover libel damages over criticism of official conduct unless the official proves the statement was made with actual malice, that is, with knowledge it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth.
- Claim 826: The Supreme Court of the United States reversed the judgment of the Supreme Court of Alabama and remanded the case for further proceedings.
The link-check history of this source is in the JSON version of this page.