New York Times v. Sullivan

Appellant

The New York Times Company

Appellee

L. B. Sullivan

Appellant's Claim

That the Supreme Court of Alabama's affirmation of a libel judgment against the Times violated the free speech and due process rights as defined by the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution and certain Supreme Court decisions; also, that an advertisement published in the Times was not libelous and the Supreme Court should reverse the decision of the Alabama trial court.

Chief Lawyers for Appellant

Herbert Brownell, Thomas F. Daly and Herbert Wechsler

Chief Lawyers for Appellee

Sam Rice Baker, M. Roland Nachman, Jr. and Robert E. Steiner III

Justices for the Court

Hugo Lafayette Black, William J. Brennan, Jr. (writing for the Court), Tom C. Clark, William O. Douglas, Arthur Goldberg, John Marshall Harlan II, Potter Stewart, Earl Warren, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

None

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

9 March 1964

Decision

The Alabama courts' decisions were reversed.

Related Cases

• Stromberg v. California,283 U.S. 359 (1931).
• DeJonge v. Oregon, 299 U.S. 353 (1937).
• Lovell v. Griffin, 303 U.S. 444 (1938).
• Terminiello v. Chicago, 337 U.S. 1 (1949).
• Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957).
• Speiser v. Randall, 357 U.S. 513 (1958).
• NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415 (1963).

Sources

Cornell. http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/

http://www.usia.gov/usa/infousa/media/unfetter/press08.htm