Business Law - Case of New York Times v. Sullivan - Assignment Example

One of the police officers of Montgomery, Alabama, Sullivan took an offense to this advertisement, believing that it sullied his reputation, and sued New York Times in an Alabama court. The Alabama court ruled in favor of Sullivan, holding that the advertisement misrepresented the Montgomery Police Department. After losing an appeal made in the Supreme Court of Alabama, New York Times took this case to the Supreme Court of the United States of America. The newspaper’s premise was that it did not intentionally mean to hurt the Montgomery Police Department or Sullivan.

The newspaper invoked its First Amendment Rights. The United States Supreme Court gave a unanimous ruling favoring New York Times. The Supreme Court stated that all the published statements happened to be protected by the First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment Rights.1 The Court also laid down that a public official to prove libel need to establish and prove that whatever one considered to be printed against one was done so with actual malice against one that is in the light of the knowledge that it was actually false, evincing a reckless disregard for the true facts.

Thereby as per New York Times v. Sullivan decision, a public figure cannot seek damages in a civil libel action in case one fails to prove malice and the disregard for the truth.