Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts

Justice Fortas join.†

In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254, 279-280, this Court held that “[t]he constitutional guar*134antees [of freedom of speech and press] require ... a federal rule that prohibits a public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with 'actual malice’ — that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” We brought these two cases here, 385 U. S. 811, 385 U. S. 812, to consider the impact of that decision on libel…