New York Times V. Sullivan

This landmark Supreme Court Case of 1964 reinforced the freedom of the press guaranteed by the First Amendment. Mr. L.B. Sullivan was a public official in Montgomery, Alabama, who claimed he had been libeled by an advertisement in the New York Times. The ad questioned police handling of civil rights issues, and as the man in charge of the police force, Sullivan claimed the ad hurt his reputation. The Court affirmed the newspaper's right to print material that it believed to be true, regardless of whether or not it was hurtful to a public official.