Herbert v. Lando - Significance, Significant Facts, The State Of The Law In 1979, The Court's Analysis

plaintiff petitioner editorial quarterly

Petitioner

Anthony Herbert

Respondents

Barry Lando, et al.

Petitioner's Claim

In a libel suit, a plaintiff should have the right to discover and inquire into the editorial process and states of mind of those responsible for the publication, in order to meet plaintiff's burden of proving "actual malice."

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Jonathan W. Lubbell

Chief Lawyer for Respondents

Floyd Abrams

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Warren E. Burger, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist, John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White (writing for the Court)

Justices Dissenting

Thurgood Marshall, Potter Stewart

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

18 April 1979

Decision

The Court reversed the court of appeals and reinstated the district court's ruling. The Court held that defendants have no privilege under the First Amendment which would bar a plaintiff from inquiring into the editorial process or states of mind of those involved in the alleged libel, if the inquiry was tailored to the production of evidence considered material to plaintiff's necessary burden of proof.

Additional Topics

Herbert v. Lando - Significance

Herbert v. Lando - Significant Facts

Anthony Herbert was a retired U.S. Army officer and a Vietnam veteran who had publicly accused his army superiors of war crimes and atrocities. Herbert and his accusations were the focus of a Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (CBS) television show, written and produced by Barry Lando, and narrated by Mike Wallace. Herbert filed a defamation lawsuit after the airing of the television program and t…

Herbert v. Lando - The State Of The Law In 1979

Several years prior to this case, the Supreme Court had decided a landmark defamation case, New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), which distinguished "public officials" from private individuals in actions for defamation. In essence, the Court ruled that some First Amendment protections were to be afforded to speech and the press (media) in the reporting of news or information about public officials r…

Herbert v. Lando - The Court's Analysis

Writing for the majority, Justice White rearticulated from previous decisions, "the right of the public to receive suitable access to social, political, esthetic, moral, and other ideas and experiences," and to the "circulation of information to which the public is entitled in virtue of the constitutional guaranties." Noting that the media (including the present defendants) played an important rol…

Herbert v. Lando - Dissent On The Scope Of Discovery

In two separate dissenting opinions, Justices Stewart and Marshall questioned the prudence of what they saw as overly-liberal discovery by plaintiffs in defamation cases. Justice Stewart concluded that information obtained (and opinions held) by editorial and media staff, which was not published, was simply not relevant to the case. Liability attached only to published defamatory information. Just…

Herbert v. Lando - Impact

The Herbert v. Lando decision became an important authority for plaintiffs in defamation cases to use in support of compelled disclosure of certain information which, state by state, and court by court, previously had not enjoyed standardized judicial treatment. State and federal courts remained free to modify their respective rules of civil procedure, especially those concerning discovery, if it …

Herbert v. Lando - Related Cases

Citing this material

Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.

Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.

<a href="http://law.jrank.org/pages/12655/Herbert-v-Lando.html">Herbert v. Lando - Significance, Significant Facts, The State Of The Law In 1979, The Court's Analysis</a>