Supreme Court Makes SHOCK MOVE on LANDMARK Case

Last week, news broke that the Supreme Court has asked media outlet CNN to respond to a petition before the Court to review the landmark decision New York Times v. Sullivan. In this interview, Legal AF’s Ray Brescia talks with law professor and legal historian Samantha Barbas of the University of Iowa College of Law. Barbas is the author of the book Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan. In it, she provides the details behind this landmark decision and in this interview talks about the current threats to its core elements. That decision, issued by a unanimous Supreme Court in 1964, established what is known as the “actual malice” standard when a public figure attempts to sue the media for allegedly disseminating defamatory statements about that figure. According to that standard, the plaintiff in such a case must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the media outlet either knew the information it disseminated was false or released it with reckless disregard for the truth. Many might think this has been a bedrock principle of First Amendment law since the nation’s founding. In reality, as documented by Barbas, that decision represented a sea-change in First Amendment doctrine, one that has, nevertheless, been a central pillar preserving democracy and the freedom of the press since. But that pillar is being shaken by a new case filed by Alan Dershowitz, one that seeks to chip away at that pillar if not destroy it altogether.  In this interview, Barbas discusses the key issues that could be before the Supreme Court if it agrees to hear Dershowitz’s challenge and what could happen should Dershowitz ultimately prevail.

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