On This Day In Alabama History: Ad That Led To New York Times V. Sullivan Case Ran
By Graydon Rust
Alabama 200
March 29, 1960
The advertisement that led to the New York Times v. Sullivan U.S. Supreme Court case ran in The New York Times. The full-page, 10-paragraph advertisement described a series of actions against black protestors in Alabama by local law enforcement, some inaccurately. In 1962, Lester B. Sullivan, who supervised the Montgomery Police Department, sued The Times and four civil rights leaders, claiming the advertisement personally libeled him, despite not mentioning him by name. After a judgment of $500,000 against the defendants in Alabama courts, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the verdict in a 9-0 decision, creating a new standard of “actual malice” in libel and defamation cases.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.
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