Sullivan sent a written request to the Times to publicly retract the information, as required for a public figure to seek punitive damages in a lib… It held that The New York Times , in licensing back issues of the newspaper for inclusion in electronic databases such as LexisNexis , could not license the works of free-lance journalists contained in the newspapers. 2d 686 (1964), extended the First Amendment 's guarantee of free speech to libel cases brought by public officials. They have bombed his home almost killing his wife and child. Before this decision, there were nearly $300 million in libel actions from the southern states outstanding against news organizations, as part of a focused effort by southern officials to use defamation lawsuits as a means of preventing critical coverage of civil rights issues in out-of-state publications. The New York Times published a somewhat inaccurate advertisement created by supporters of Dr. Martin Luther King that was critical of the Montgomery, Alabama police; Sullivan, a Montgomery city commissioner, sued the Times for defamation on the basis that as a supervisor of the police, statements in the ad were personally defamatory. Nor does the retraction upon the demand of the Governor supply the necessary proof. But this distinction was eliminated with the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment and the application to the States of the First Amendment's restrictions. The text appeared over the names of 64 persons, many widely known for their activities in public affairs, religion, trade unions, and the performing arts. The jury must find that the words were published "of and concerning" the plaintiff, but where the plaintiff is a public official his place in the governmental hierarchy is sufficient evidence to support a finding that his reputation has been affected by statements that reflect upon the agency of which he is in charge. The case began in 1960 when The New York Times published a full-page advertisement by supporters of Martin Luther King Jr. that criticized the police in Montgomery, Alabama, for their mistreatment of civil rights protesters. Lower courts rejected her case based on New York Times Co., stating that she "thrust herself to the forefront of a public controversy", making her a limited public figure and requiring the higher standard of malice to be demonstrated. Good motives and belief in truth do not negate an inference of malice, but are relevant only in mitigation of punitive damages if the jury chooses to accord them weight. In his concurring opinion, Justice Black explained, "'Malice,' even as defined by the Court, is an elusive, abstract concept, hard to prove and hard to disprove. He brought this civil libel action against the four individual petitioners, who are Negroes and Alabama clergymen, and against petitioner the New York Times Company, a New York corporation which publishes the New York Times, a daily newspaper. The term "malice" came from existing libel law, rather than being invented in the case. We also think the evidence was constitutionally defective in another respect: it was incapable of supporting the jury's finding that the allegedly libelous statements were made "of and concerning" respondent. Revisiting 'New York Times Co. V. Sullivan' Supreme Court Justice Thomas called for the Court to reconsider a landmark decision. 1964 New York Times v. 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