Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Categories: U.S. Supreme Court cases | U.S. free speech case law | First Amendment case law | United States tort case law | 1974 in law
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.
| Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court of the United States | ||||||||
| Argued November 14, 1973 Decided June 25, 1974 | ||||||||
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| Holding | ||||||||
| The First Amendment permits states to formulate their own standards of libel for defamatory statements made about private figures, as long as liability is not imposed without fault. Seventh Circuit reversed. | ||||||||
| Court membership | ||||||||
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| Case opinions | ||||||||
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| Laws applied | ||||||||
| U.S. Const. Amend. I, XIV |
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974), is a United States Supreme Court decision which established that opinion is not libel and actual malice is not necessary for defamation of private person if negligence is present.
The case is also important in that it held that states are free to impose liability for defamatory statements so long as they "do not impose liability without fault." This holding essentially means that strict liability for defamation is unconstitutional in the United States under the First Amendment; the plaintiff must be able to show that the defendant acted negligently or with an even higher level of mens rea. In many other common law countries, strict liability for defamation is still the rule.
See also
- New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), actual malice standard for press reporting about public figure to be libel
- Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988) parody of a public figure is not libel
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