The Supreme Court declined to revisit the First Amendment decision in New York Times v. Sullivan, the 1964 ruling that set the strict standard for public figures to claim libel, on Monday.
Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter in the high court’s decision to turn away an appeal from a Christian nonprofit group that challenged its characterization by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights watchdog.
“I would grant certiorari in this case to revisit the ‘actual malice’ standard,” Thomas wrote.
The case was brought by a not-for-profit Christian ministry called Coral Ridge Ministries Media, which broadcasts televised programs of previously recorded messages from the group’s now-deceased founder, D. James Kennedy.
The ministry sought to sue the SPLC for defamation after the watchdog labeled the ministry a “hate group.” According to court records, the SPLC described the ministry’s conduct as “shameful” and “lawless.”
Thomas and Justice Neil Gorsuch previously urged the other seven justices to revisit the scope of the 1964 case, which set a high standard for public figures to show “actual malice” before they can succeed in a libel dispute between an individual or news publication.
“This case is one of many showing how New York Times and its progeny have allowed media organizations and interest groups ‘to cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity,’” Thomas wrote.
The case brought by the ministry was dismissed by lower courts for failing to overcome the standard established in Sullivan.
Recent decisions in district courts have reinforced the media libel precedent. One notable instance happened with Sarah Palin’s defamation suit against the New York Times in February.
The district judge and the jury ruled that the plaintiff, Palin, failed to prove actual malice in her lawsuit alleging that a 2017 editorial damaged the career of the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee.
