NY Times v. Sullivan
(1964)
Basic Facts
Question
Did Alabama's libel law, by not requiring Sullivan to prove that an advertisement personally harmed him and dismissing the same as untruthful due to factual errors, unconstitutionally infringe on the First Amendment's freedom of speech and freedom of press protections?
Constitutional Reference
Conclusion (7-2 Supreme Court Vote)
Precedent
Previously, news organizations that desired to run these stories were often hesitant due to fear that they would be dragged into a liability issue. After this case ruled in favor of the press, this opened up a lot of opportunity for news sources to print stories about civil rights cases in the South.
Significance Today
Ex. people being able to publicly criticize the government and policies that they don't agree with (such as legalization of marijuana or gun laws), or even running candidates (such as the major hate surrounding Donald Trump in the 2016 election).