Sullivan vs. New York Times Co.
- Artist/Author/Producer: New York Times
- Confronting Bodies: Sullivan, Police Chief of Montgomery, Alabama
- Dates of action: 1964
- Location: Montgomery, Alabama
- Description of the Art Work
- A signed ad that appeared in the New York Times in support of
civil rights marchers and criticized Sullivan, the segregationist Police
Chief of Montgomery, Alabama, for his unfair treatment of the marchers.
- Description of incident
- Sullivan sued the New York Times Co. and won massive damages
equaling $500, 000 because of minor factual errors in the article.
- Results of incident
- The Supreme Court reversed the libel judgment, saying that the First
Amendment protected "uninhibited, robust, and wide-open" criticism of
public officials, at least unless it could be proved that the critic was
deliberately lying or showed "reckless disregard" for the truth.
Source: Sex, Sin and Blasphemy, Marjorie Heins, New Press,'93, NYC