''Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts'', 388 U.S. 130 (1967), was a

landmark decision Landmark court decisions, in present-day common law legal systems, establish precedents that determine a significant new legal principle or concept, or otherwise substantially affect the interpretation of existing law. "Leading case" is commonly ...

of the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

establishing the standard of

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

protection against

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

claims brought by private individuals.

Background

The case involved a

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

lawsuit filed by the former

Georgia Bulldogs football The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Georgia Bulldogs, Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...

coach

Wally Butts James Wallace Butts Jr. (February 7, 1905 – December 17, 1973) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 1939 to 1960, compiling a record of 140– ...

against ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

''. The lawsuit arose from an article in the magazine, which alleged that Butts, still Georgia's athletic director following his resignation as coach after the 1960 season, and the

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

head coach

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

had conspired to fix games, specifically the 1962 season opener between the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide, which Alabama won 35-0. The Butts suit was consolidated with another case, '' Associated Press v. Walker'', and both cases were decided in one opinion. In finding for Butts but against Walker, the Supreme Court gave some indications of when a "

public figure A public figure is a person who has achieved fame, prominence or notoriety within a society, whether through achievement, luck, action, or in some cases through no purposeful action of their own. In the context of defamation actions (libel and ...

" could sue for libel.

Decision

In a

plurality opinion A plurality decision is a court decision in which no opinion received the support of a majority of the judges. A plurality opinion is the judicial opinion or opinions which received the most support among those opinions which supported the pl ...

, written by

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

John Marshall Harlan II John Marshall Harlan (May 20, 1899 – December 29, 1971) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. Harlan is usually called John Marshall Harlan II to distinguish hi ...

, the Supreme Court held that news organizations were protected from liability when they print allegations about

public officials An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of the ...

. However, ''

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan ''New York Times Co. v. Sullivan'', 376 U.S. 254 (1964), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled the freedom of speech protections in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution limit the ability of a public official to sue for d ...

'' (1964), the Supreme Court decided that news organizations are still liable to public figures if the published information is created with

actual malice In United States defamation law, actual malice is a legal requirement imposed upon public officials or public figures when they file suit for libel (defamatory printed communications). Compared to other individuals who are less well known to the ...

. The Court ultimately ruled in favor of Butts, and ''The Saturday Evening Post'' was ordered to pay $3.06 million to Butts in damages, which was later reduced on appeal to $460,000. The settlement was seen as a contributing factor in the demise of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' and its parent corporation, the

Curtis Publishing Company The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became one of the largest and most influential publishers in the United States during the early 20th century. The company's publications included the ''Ladies' Home ...

, two years later. Butts and Bryant had sued for $10 million each. Bryant settled for $360,000.

References

External links

* * 1967 in United States case law Alabama Crimson Tide football Georgia Bulldogs football The Saturday Evening Post United States defamation case law United States Free Speech Clause case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court {{SCOTUS-Warren-stub

Background

Decision

See also

References

External links