Inc. v. Firestone Time

Petitioner

Time, Inc., publisher of Time magazine

Respondent

Mary Alice Firestone

Petitioner's Claim

That the finding of libel was inappropriate because the respondent was a public figure.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

John H. Pickering

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Edna L. Caruso

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, Warren E. Burger, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist (writing for the Court), Potter Stewart

Justices Dissenting

William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Byron R. White (John Paul Stevens did not participate)

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

2 March 1976

Decision

That Firestone was not a public figure for the purposes of this trial; case remanded to state court for determination of whether defendant was at fault.

Related Cases

• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964).
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974).
• Cox Broadcasting Corp, v. Cohn, 420 U.S. 469 (1975).

Further Readings

• Brooklyn Law Review, Summer, 1976, p. 123.
• Creighton Law Review, Vol. 10, No. 2, p. 351.
• DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1977, p. 863.
• Mercer Law Review,Vol. 38, p. 809.