New York Times v. Sullivan

Sticks and Stones.

The law of defamation deals with injury to a person's reputation and good name by false statements. One form, libel, is commonly associated with the printed word, though it can consist of statements made over other durable and widely disseminated mediums, such as television. In a libel action a person who has been defamed before a third party can sue the publisher of the statement for damages. The standard for libel claims was traditionally one of strict liability. If a person published a false statement, they were liable for damages even if they had not acted unreasonably, thus, it was easier to sue a person for libel than for most other wrongs. The justification was that great harm can result from the broadcast of false information about a person. Up to 1964 strict liability in the law of libel had been largely ignored by the U.S. Supreme Court. It was left to the states and their courts to deal with the...

[The entire page is 1279 words long]

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