public controversy

In October 1981, The Investigator magazine published two articles entitled "The Private World of Willis Carto" and "Yockey: Profile of an American Hitler," along with a shorter introductory article. These articles portrayed respondent Liberty Lobby, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation and self-described citizens' lobby, and its founder Willis A. Carto as neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic, racist, and Fascist. Respondents filed a diversity libel action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against petitioners Jack Anderson, the publisher, Bill Adkins, and the Investigator Publishing Co., alleging that 28 statements and 2 illustrations in the articles were false and derogatory. Following discovery, petitioners moved for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. In support, they submitted an affidavit from Charles Bermant, the author of the articles, stating that he had spent substantial time researching from a wide variety of sources and believed the facts to be truthful, along with an appendix detailing sources for each allegedly libelous statement. Respondents opposed the motion, asserting inaccuracies and that Bermant had relied on patently unreliable sources, and presented evidence that editor William McGaw had told Adkins before publication that the articles were terrible and ridiculous. The District Court held that respondents were limited-purpose public figures to whom the New York Times standards applied. After reviewing the evidence, the District Court granted summary judgment to petitioners. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed as to 21 statements and reversed as to 9. It held that the requirement that actual malice be proved by clear and convincing evidence need not be considered at the summary judgment stage. The Supreme Court granted certiorari because the holding conflicted with decisions of several other Courts of Appeals.

In 1974 Michael Milkovich served as head wrestling coach at Maple Heights High School in Ohio. During a match against Mentor High School a fight broke out between the teams. Several wrestlers were injured and one opposing coach was struck in the face. Milkovich and Maple Heights superintendent H. Don Scott testified before the Ohio High School Athletic Association that Milkovich had not been involved in the altercation. The OHSAA censured Milkovich and placed the Maple Heights team on probation for one year. Several wrestlers and their parents sued the OHSAA in the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County, Ohio, alleging denial of due process. Both Milkovich and Scott testified in that proceeding. The court overturned the OHSAA sanctions on due process grounds. The day after the decision the News-Herald published a column by J. Theodore Diadiun. The column bore the heading "Maple beat the law with the big lie.'" It stated that Milkovich and Scott lied at the hearing after each having given his solemn oath to tell the truth. It further stated that by the time the hearing before Judge Martin rolled around, Milkovich and Scott apparently had their version of the incident polished and reconstructed, and the judge apparently believed them. Milkovich filed a defamation action against Diadiun and the newspaper’s owner, Lorain Journal Co., in the Court of Common Pleas of Lake County, Ohio. He alleged that the column accused him of committing perjury. The trial court granted a directed verdict for the defendants. The Ohio Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for trial. On remand the trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants and the Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed. In a parallel action brought by Superintendent Scott the Ohio Supreme Court held that the same column constituted protected opinion. Relying on that decision the Ohio Court of Appeals in Milkovich’s case affirmed summary judgment for the defendants. The Ohio Supreme Court dismissed Milkovich’s appeal for want of a substantial constitutional question. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Mary Alice Firestone married Russell A. Firestone Jr., heir to the tire fortune, in 1961. They separated in 1964, after which she filed a complaint for separate maintenance in the Circuit Court of Palm Beach County, Florida, and he counterclaimed for divorce on grounds of extreme cruelty and adultery. The ensuing trial lasted seventeen months, drew extensive media coverage with over one hundred reporters attending, and featured testimony regarding the parties' extramarital activities. The Circuit Court rendered its decision on December 15, 1967. The final judgment granted the divorce to the husband on the ground of extreme cruelty, awarded the wife $3,000 per month in alimony, and made no finding of adultery by either party while noting the lack of domestication by both. Time magazine, a news publication with nationwide circulation, received information about the judgment from wire services, a New York newspaper, its Miami bureau chief, and a local stringer. Based on these sources, Time published an article in its December 22, 1967, issue under the Milestones section stating that the couple had been divorced on grounds of extreme cruelty and adultery after a seventeen-month trial, that the wife had been awarded $3,000 monthly alimony, and that witnesses had testified to her extramarital affair with a family friend and to the husband finding her drunk and naked. Within weeks, Mary Alice Firestone demanded a retraction from Time, which declined. She then filed a libel action in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County, Florida, alleging the article was false, malicious, and defamatory, causing her public hatred, contempt, ridicule, and mental pain. At trial, the judge instructed the jury that the article was libelous per se, leaving only the questions of whether it was of and concerning the plaintiff and the amount of damages. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff awarding $100,000 in compensatory damages, which the trial court entered as judgment. The Florida District Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment. The Supreme Court of Florida also affirmed, holding that the plaintiff was not a public figure and that the article was not a fair and accurate report of the judicial proceeding. Time then sought review in the United States Supreme Court, which granted certiorari.

Maurice S. Hepps served as the principal stockholder of General Programming, Inc. (GPI). GPI franchised a chain of Thrifty stores selling beer, soft drinks, and snacks. Hepps, the corporation, and several franchisees brought a defamation action in Pennsylvania state court against Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and reporters William Ecenbarger and William Lambert. Between May 1975 and May 1976 the Inquirer published five articles. The articles stated that Hepps and the Thrifty chain maintained links to organized crime. They claimed those links allowed influence over a state legislator described as a convicted felon. The stories reported that federal investigators had uncovered connections between Thrifty and underworld figures. They also stated that Thrifty had obtained competitive advantages through State Liquor Control Board rulings and that a grand jury was examining whether the chain received special treatment from the Governor's administration. At trial Hepps testified at length that the statements were false. He cross-examined the articles' authors on their accuracy. The trial court ruled that the plaintiffs bore the burden of proving falsity and instructed the jury accordingly. The jury returned a verdict for the defendants. The plaintiffs appealed directly to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. That court held that the burden of proving truth remained with the defendants and remanded the case for a new trial. The United States Supreme Court noted probable jurisdiction.