On Tuesday, Justice Clarence Thomas made a stunning announcement: The justice wants to overturn perhaps the most important free expression ruling in the Supreme Court’s history, New York Times v. Sullivan. That precedent, against which Thomas casually proclaimed war while voting to deny cert in the defamation case McKee v. Cosby, sharply limits the ability of public figures, including government officials, to sue their critics for libel. It remains the crucial safeguard of America’s free press, a bulwark against defamation suits designed to silence media outlets and chill public debate. If Thomas succeeded in killing off Sullivan, it would be, quite simply, the end of the First Amendment as we know it.
from Stories from Slate https://ift.tt/2DQxQRS
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