Libel Law Origins: Inherited from English common law.
Civil Rights Era: Anti-civil rights activists used it against the movement.
Example: Martin Luther King Jr.'s anger in mountaintop speech over misuse of law to stop protests.
Methods: Using injunctions (prior restraint) and defamation/libel suits against northern papers.
Targeting the Press
Northern Papers: Sued for defamation just for reporting true events such as bombings, lynchings, and beatings.
Outcome: All-white juries led to successful anti-civil rights lawsuits, with significant financial penalties aimed at bankrupting these papers.
Supreme Court Intervention
Revision of Libel Law: Complete overhaul making it harder to win libel suits in the US.
Broad Scope: Applies not just to professional journalism but also to personal publications (e.g., Facebook, blogs).
Federal Involvement: Shifted libel law responsibility from state courts to federal courts, emphasizing First Amendment implications.
Key Changes and Implications
Constitutionalization: Libel law linked to First and Fourteenth Amendments.
Common Law and Statutory Law: Previously governed by state-level laws like statute of limitations.
Elimination of Strict Liability: Public officials must prove 'actual malice,' making it hard for them to win libel suits.
Actual Malice: Knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.
Truth as Absolute Defense: If the reported information is true, the case is dismissed automatically.
Historical Context
Alien and Sedition Acts: Past laws made it a crime to criticize the government, conflicting with First Amendment protections.
First Amendment Duty: Americans are expected to criticize the government when it is wrong.
Further Implications
Virginia Board of Pharmacy: Case pointed towards future protections, including for advertisements. Initial advertisement in question was by civil rights ministers calling for justice.
Next Steps: More innovations in First Amendment law during the era to be discussed in upcoming content.