The New York Times Case: A Note on "The Central Meaning of the First Amendment"
Harry Kalven · The Supreme Court Review · 1964
I. Tm~mOn occasion the Supreme Court hands down a decision in which past doctrine intersects present events in so complex a way as to be the despair of the commentator, not only because its portent is almost beyond prediction, but also because it opens so many avenues for inquiry.Just such a decision was New York Times Co. v. Sullivan' in which the Court unanimously 2 held that a libel judgment rendered under Alabama law was violative of First Amendment principles and, therefore, of the Fourteenth Amendment.Since the case involved a rare instance of measuring the common law of defamation by constitutional standards, 3 it clamors for a Harry Kalven is Professor of Law, The University of Chicago. U.S. 254 (1964).2 There were, however, three opinions.Mr. Justice Brennan wrote the opinion for the Court.Justices Black and Goldberg each wrote a concurring opinion in which Mr. Justice Douglas