Justices Gorsuch and Thomas call to revisit New York Times v. Sullivan

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Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch on said the Supreme Court should revisit the breadth of the landmark First Amendment decision in New York Times v. Sullivan and explore how it applies to social media and technology companies. That 1964 ruling created a higher bar for public figures to claim libel and has been a bedrock of US media law, but the two conservative justices said it's time to take another look. Gorsuch and Thomas dissented when the court declined to take up a case from the son of a former prime minister of Albania who claimed several statements were defamatory in a book that was later turned into "War Dogs," the Hollywood film. While Thomas has consistently called to revisit the historic ruling, this marks the first time that Gorsuch joined his efforts. "Since 1964," Gorsuch wrote, "our Nation's media landscape has shifted in ways few could have forseen." He added that "thanks to the revolutions in technology, today virtually anyone in this county can publish virtually anything for immediate consumption virtually anywhere in the world."


Justices Gorsuch and Thomas call to revisit landmark First Amendment case New York Times v. Sullivan