NY Times v Sullivan
Please read each link and answer the questions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQBO5PHguZc&feature=related&safety_mode=true&p
ersist_safety_mode=1&safe=active
http://catalog.freedomforum.org/SpecialTopics/NYTSullivan/summary.html
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Write a one paragraph summary of the case, and its outcome.
Who was Sullivan?
Why is he considered a public figure?
Who did he sue?
What significant issue was happening during this time period in US history?
When the Alabama courts found in favor of Sullivan – what was the fear for the
media?
7. What was “Heed Their Rising Voices”?
8. What was the year in which the Supreme Court made its decision?
9. Why is this case considered a landmark decision?
10. What is “actual malice”?
11. How is NY Times v Sullivan a victory for the First Amendment?
http://www.freedomforum.org/packages/first/defamationandfirstamendment/casesu
mmaries.htm
12. Justice Brennan wrote: Thus we consider this case against the background of a
profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be
uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and
sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.
What does his statement mean? How does it apply to media?
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/justice-scalia-reflections-on-new-york-times-vsullivan
13. Without the NY Times v. Sullivan decision, what would have potentially happened to the
First Amendment?
14. What is Justice Scalia’s opinion on NY Times vs. Sullivan?
15. What would happen to the media if the Sullivan decision were overturned, or taken
away?