Barbas on Introduction: Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan @UBSchoolofLaw @baldycenter

Samantha Barbas, Buffalo Law School; Director, Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, University at Buffalo Law School, has published Introduction: Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan. Here is the abstract.

The following is an excerpt from Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan (University of California Press, 2023), which tells the full story of New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark Supreme Court case that grew out of segregationists’ attempts to quash reporting on the civil rights movement. In its 1964 decision, the Supreme Court held that a public official must prove “actual malice” or reckless disregard of the truth to win a libel lawsuit, providing critical protections for free speech and freedom of the press. Drawing on previously unexplored sources, including the archives of the New York Times Company and civil rights leaders, the book tracks the saga behind one of the most important First Amendment rulings in history. Actual Malice situates the case within the turbulent 1960s and the history of the press, alongside portraits of the lawyers, officials, judges, activists, editors, and journalists who brought and defended the case.

Download the Introduction from SSRN at the link.