Source: Persuasion
by Jeffrey Cieslikowski
“Libel suits … were a common and highly fruitful practice for segregationists. The suits aimed to stifle press coverage of the Civil Rights Movement by inciting fear in editors: one innocent slip up could bring a damages suit that would bankrupt a paper. It was in this context that the Supreme Court granted review of the jury’s award to [Montgomery Commissioner of Public Safety L. B.] Sullivan, in what would become the landmark case New York Times Co v. Sullivan. The Court in 1964 unanimously reversed the jury’s decision. It held that the First Amendment protected newspapers from defamation suits, so long as any factual mistake was not made with ‘actual malice’ …. But in recent years, Sullivan has come under threat.” (02/12/25)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/a-new-threat-to-the-freedom-of-the