During the heated battle for civil rights in 1964, the United States Supreme Court handed down one of its landmark First Amendment decisions, and a conference being held in the law school Friday will celebrate the 40th anniversary of this important victory for free speech.
The symposium, titled “Heed Their Rising Voices” after a facet of the case itself, commemorates The New York Times v. Sullivan decision, which for the first time, guaranteed First Amendment protection to the class of speech known as defamation.
In the case, a full-page advertisement titled “Heed Their Rising Voices” was published in a 1960 issue of The New York Times.
The ad stated that “as the whole world knows by now, thousands of Southern Negro students are engaged in widespread non-violent demonstrations in positive affirmation of the right to live in human dignity as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”
It also went on to urge support for the civil rights efforts in the South, and specific reference was made to the alleged misconduct of police officials in Montgomery, Ala.
L.B. Sullivan, a former Alabama official who supervised the police department there, filed suit against the newspaper, alleging that he had been libeled by the advertisement.
In a dramatic and unanimous ruling that henceforth changed the way defamation suits were viewed, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the paper and extended First Amendment protection to a special class of speech – that which criticizes the performance of public officials.
The new test developed for such speech required that the defendant prove “actual malice,” in other words, that the speech was made with direct knowledge or reckless disregard for its truth or falsity.
“The most important thing is that this was the first time the Supreme Court offered First Amendment protection to speech that includes some defamatory statements,” said Norma Cook, associate professor in special programs and member of the planning committee for the event.
“Before, it was possible for public officials whose conduct had been criticized by citizens to bring a libel lawsuit, which could be used as a retaliation to criticism of his or her office,” she said.
Otis Stephens, resident scholar of constitutional law and member of the planning committee, also noted the importance of this decision.
“This is an extremely important Supreme Court decision because it involves extensions of both freedom of speech and press,” he said. “It also bears additional importance because it came out of the Civil Rights Movement.”
The all-day conference will feature speeches from various authors and professors as well as a roundtable discussion of how the case has impacted our laws and what effect it will have on the future of the First Amendment.
Anthony Lewis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author for his book “Make No Law” on the Sullivan case, will deliver the keynote address. Leading civil rights author Diane McWhorter and 1960s civil rights leader the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth are also among those scheduled to speak at the conference.
Shuttlesworth was a defendant in Sullivan’s companion case, and Cook said that this is a rare opportunity to hear first-hand what society was really like in the 1960s.
Stephens also said that learning about this case and its effects is important because it reasserts our constitutional rights.
“I think the recognition of the right to criticize government officials, to make comments on their performance … goes hand-in-hand with the democratic system,” he said. “It has a widespread impact on our society.”
The doors open for the event at 8:15 a.m. and it will run until 4:30 p.m. Admission is free, and audience members are encouraged to come and go as they please.
