Case Categories: Libel and Slander

• Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp. v. Hoeper (2014)

  Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp. v. Hoeper (2014) dealt with immunity for reporting information that might be considered defamatory and unprotected by the First...

• Anderson v. Liberty Lobby (1986)

  In Anderson v. Liberty Lobby (1986), the Supreme Court required application of the clear and convincing evidence standard to decide if a journalist had...

• Ashton v. Kentucky (1966)

  Ashton v. Kentucky (1966) held that most criminal libel laws violated the First Amendment. The laws had allowed charges against those who published false and...

• Associated Press v. Walker (1967)

  In Associated Press v. Walker (1967), the Supreme Court ruled that public figures should be treated differently from public officials when they sue for libel...

• Balzac v. People of Porto Rico (1922)

  Balzac v. People of Porto Rico (1922) affirmed a libel decision. The main issues were jurisdiction and whether a right to a jury trial applied in Puerto Rico...

• Barr v. Matteo (1959)

  In Barr v. Matteo (1959), the Supreme Court affirmed immunity from prosecution for libel involving statements made by officers of the executive branch...

• Barrett v. Rosenthal (Cal. S. Ct.) (2006)

  Barrett v. Rosenthal (Cal. 2006) ruled that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act gives those who republish defamatory comments online broad immunity...

• Beauharnais v. Illinois (1952)

  Beauharnais v. Illinois (1952) is the precedent for the constitutionality of state group-libel laws, but later precedents were so powerful that the decision...

• Berisha v. Lawson (2021)

  Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissented in a July 2021 Supreme Court denial to review a defamation case against "War Dogs" author Guy Lawson, saying...

• Cantrell v. Forest City Publishing Co. (1974)

  Cantrell v. Forest City Publishing Co. (1974) ruled against a newspaper for an article casting the plaintiff in false light, showing the limits of First...

• Commonwealth v. Blanding (Mass.) (1825)

  Commonwealth v. Blanding (Mass. 1825) epitomized the common law libel understanding of some state judiciaries at the time: “the greater the truth, the greater...

• Commonwealth v. Clapp (Mass.) (1808)

  In Commonwealth v. Clapp (Mass. 1808) illumines state law prior to the application of the First Amendment to the states. Libel was considered criminal...

• Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn (1975)

  In Cox Broadcasting v. Cohn (1975), the Supreme Court said journalists had a First Amendment right to release information found in public domain records...

• Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967)

  Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967) upheld a libel judgment and gave the Court the opportunity to clarify the First Amendment standard of libel for public...

• Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. (1985)

  Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. (1985) said nonmedia distributors of information do not enjoy First Amendment protections as defendants in...

• Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America, North Dakota Division v. WDAY, Inc. (1959)

  Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America v. WDAY (1959), did not mention the First Amendment, but involved a libel issue dealing with right of reply...

• Florida Star v. B.J.F. (1989)

  In Florida Star v. B.J.F. (1989), the Supreme Court said the First Amendment stopped a newspaper from being held liable for publishing a rape victim's name...

• Gandia v. Pettingill (1912)

  Gandia v. Pettingill served as a precedent for protecting First Amendment rights by making libel judgments difficult to win...

• Garrison v. Louisiana (1964)

  In Garrison v. Louisiana, the court determined the criminal libel law in Louisiana to be unconstitutional. The ruling continued the refinement of libel laws...

• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974)

  In Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., the court ruled that the First Amendment does not require a private individual who is libeled to prove actual malice in a...

• Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Association v. Bresler (1970)

  Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Association v. Bresler held that rhetorical hyperbole is not actionable as defamation if a reasonable reader would not...

• Harte-Hanks Communications v. Connaughton (1989)

  Harte-Hanks Communications v. Connaughton (1989) decided that public figures can establish libel by showing that a publisher acted with reckless disregard for...

• Henry v. Collins (1965)

  Henry v. Collins (1965) reversed a libel conviction after public officials could not meet the standard to prove libel. Libel is not protected by the First...

• Herbert v. Lando (1979)

  Herbert v. Lando (1979) held there is no protection under the First Amendment shielding the editorial process for new stories when the stories provoke libel...

• Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988)

  In Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, the Court ruled that the First Amendment protects publishers’ rights from claims by public figures regarding materials labeled...

• Hutchinson v. Proxmire (1979)

  Hutchinson v. Proxmire (1979) ruled that Congress members do not have protection under the Constitution or First Amendment for libelous statements made outside...

• Letter Carriers v. Austin (1974)

  Letter Carriers v. Austin (1974) ruled the term "scab" could not be the basis of a libel claim by a non-union member as rhetorical hyperbole is protected by the...

• Linn v. United Plant Guard Workers of America (1966)

  Linn v. United Plant Guard Workers of America (1966), which dealt with a union organizing campaign, affirmed that libel is not protected by the First Amendment...

• Masson v. New Yorker Magazine (1991)

  In Masson v. New Yorker Magazine (1991), the Court ruled that altering interviewees' words was not libelous unless the alterations resulted in a change in the...

• McDonald v. Smith (1985)

  McDonald v. Smith (1985) held that the petition clause of the First Amendment does not endow individuals with absolute immunity from charges of slander and...

• McKee v. Cosby (2019)

  Justice Clarence Thomas in 2019 called into question the actual malice standard and suggested the Court review libel law. His reasoning was outlined in a...

• Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. (1990)

  Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co.(1990) ruled that opinions can be defamatory and that no First Amendment shield for the expression of defamatory opinions is...

• Monitor Patriot Co. v. Roy (1971)

  Monitor Patriot Co. v. Roy (1971) affirmed the actual malice standard from New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) for judging whether an article constitutes...

• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)

  New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) required public officials to show prove actual malice in libel cases, enhancing First Amendment protection of government...

• Ocala Star-Banner Co. v. Damron (1971)

  Ocala Star-Banner Co. v. Damron (1971) showed how the “actual malice” test of the landmark libel case extended to individuals running for public office...

• People v. Croswell (1804)

  The 1804 New York State Supreme Court ruling in People v. Croswell introduced that truth should be a defense to libel, even as the court upheld a libel...

• Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps (1986)

  A case against The Philadelphia Inquirer led the Supreme Court to rule in 1986 that a private figure plaintiff who sues a news organization for libel bears the...

• Rosenblatt v. Baer (1966)

  Following a landmark First Amendment case, Rosenblatt v. Baer (1966) remanded a libel case for determination of whether a manager of a county-owned ski resort...

• Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc. (1971)

  Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc. (1971) balanced First Amendment rights against reputation interests and applied the actual malice standard to public interest...

• St. Amant v. Thompson (1968)

  St. Amant v. Thompson (1968) said reckless disregard for the truth in libel cases meant a person doubted the truth of a statement. Libel is unprotected by the...

• Time, Inc. v. Firestone (1976)

  In Time, Inc. v. Firestone (1976) provided more guidance in determining when a person suing for libel (or defamation) is a public figure or a private person...

• Time, Inc. v. Hill (1967)

  Time, Inc. v. Hill (1967) extended the actual malice standard to a false light invasion of privacy to ensure the First Amendment freedom of the press was not...

• Time, Inc. v. Pape (1971)

  In Time, Inc. v. Pape (1971), the Supreme Court dismissed a conviction against Time magazine, finding that the magazine did not engage in “actual malice...

• Tory v. Cochran (2005)

  Tory v. Cochran (2005) vacated and remanded a decision that had issued a permanent injunction against Tory, who claimed the injunction infringed on his First...

• United States v. Hudson and Goodwin (1812)

  In 1812, the Supreme Court overturned the criminal libel convictions of the owners of the Hartford Courant who had published an article accusing the president...

• United States v. Press Publishing Co. (1911)

  In what has been described as "the last gasp of seditious libel" in the United States, the Supreme Court in 1911 quashed federal indictments against several New...

• United States v. Smith (Ind.) (1909)

  A federal district judge in 1909 stopped the prosecution of the Indianapolis Star for allegedly libelous stories about President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt...

• White v. Nicholls (1845)

  White v. Nicholls (1845) said that letters sent about the fitness for office of public officials could be found to be libelous. Libel is not protected by the...

• Wolston v. Reader's Digest Association (1979)

  Wolston v. Reader's Digest (1979) said that private individuals did not transform into public figures in libel cases where they had involuntarily become...

• Zeran v. America Online, Inc. (4th Cir.) (1997)

  Zeran v. America Online, Inc. (4th Cir. 1997) said the Communications Decency Act of 1996 provides broad immunity to Internet service providers (ISPs) from...