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University of Oregon
Law School presents
6th Annual
Duck Dash &
Walk
(formerly the Foster Run & Walk)
What: 5K Run, Walk & Wheelchair to benefit the Tom Foster
Memorial Scholarship Fund
When: Homecoming Weekend - October 16, 2004, 8:30 a.m.
W herd Start: Hayward Field, University of Oregon Campus
Finish: University of Oregon School of Law
Pri/es: Awards for the first male, female and masters winners; ribbons
to 3-deep age division winners. Random pri/.e drawings!
To Register: www.goodrace.com, or register in person at Run
Pro (525 High St, Eugene) or The Step Beyond (3365 E Amazon,
Eugene). Questions? Cali (541) 346-3970.
Oct. 16 £ 17,2004 * Lane Events Center - 796 W. 13th Ave.
Admission $6 ($s with coupon)
Show hours:
Over 70 local bridal businesses
Sat. ioam-5 pm
Sun. 11 am~s pm
Fashion Shows:
Sat. 11 am 8 230 pm
Sun 12:30 pm 8 3 pm
Brides register to win two honeymoons
to The Bahamas or Jamaica
Sponsored by:
Springfield New* l|jyi
2hcl\CQt3tfr-45uari\
Briny this coupon lor
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General Admission
_ jneiejister atiwww^rejonweddjn jshows.com
Conference commemorates
Freedom of Press milestone
Forty years ago today, The New York Times v. Sullivan
decision defined the modem perception of libel
|
BY MORJAH BALINGIT
NEWS REPORTER
It was a decision that would
change journalism, from campus pa
pers to network news. The implica
tions of the Supreme Court decision
in New York Times v. Sullivan creat
ed the modern definition of “freedom
of the press,” raising the burden of
proof that must be established to con
vict a publication of libel.
Today, the School of Journalism and
Communication and the School of Law
will recognize the 40th anniversary of
the decision, as well as its impact on the
media, with a conference titled “New
York Times v. Sullivan: Forty Years Af
ter.” The conference runs from 8:30
a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Knight Law
Center and is free for students and fac
ulty and $20 for community members.
The history behind New York
Times v. Sullivan begins with a full
page advertisement run in the New
York Times, which alleged that Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s arrest in Mont
gomery, Ala., was part of a plot to de
ter King’s campaign from encouraging
blacks to vote and to integrate segre
gated public facilities. Because the ad
vertisement contained factual errors,
Montgomery’s city commissioner, L.B.
Sullivan, filed a suit for libel and won
$500,000, claiming that he had been
defamed by the advertisement.
The case was appealed all the way to
the Supreme Court. The legal question
raised was whether public officials had
to prove that they were personally
harmed by publications they allege to be
libelous. In the end, the case was over
turned, and it was determined that for a
public official or a public figure to claim
libel, they had to prove that the allegedly
libelous material was created with actu
al malice, that is, intent to harm.
“The good news is that it provides
protection for journalists,” said SOJC
Dean Timothy Gleason. “The bad
news is that it allows judges and juries
to intrude into
newsrooms, and
that has a poten
tially chilling ef
fect.” Gleason
will participate
in a panel dis
cussion explor
ing how the de
cision has
affected news
rooms. Appel
late Judge
Gilbert S. Merritt
of Nashville,
Tenn., will deliv
er the keynote
address, titled
“Government
Has Not Ended
Controls on Free
Speech,” at the
conference. Mer
ritt, who is one
NEW YORK TIMES V.
SULLIVAN (1964)
Argued: January 6,1964
Decided: March 9,1964
Chief Justice: Earl Warren
Question Presented:
Was Alabama’s libel law, which did not
require Montgomery City Commissioner
L.B. Sullivan to prove that a New York
Times advertisement personally
harmed him, in violation of the First
Amendment?
Conclusion:
The First Amendment protects the publi
cation of all statements, even false
ones, unless the statements are made
with malice - that is, with the intent to
harm the person that the statement
concerns, or if the statements published
are knowingly false or in reckless disre
gard of their truth or falsity.
Source: oyez.org
oi 13 experts
chosen to help rebuild Iraq’s judicial
system, has publicly criticized the
Coalition Provisional Authority for its
issuing of gag orders.
Other participants include Oregon
ian Editor Sandra Mims Rowe, Wash
ington Post Associate Editor and
Columnist David Ignatius, LA Times
Deputy General Counsel and Vice Pres
ident Karlene Goller and Register
Guard Managing Editor Dave Baker.
Political Science Associate Professor
Julie Novkov, who will moderate a
panel discussion, explained the signifi
cance of the case today.
“Basically, if the press is not protect
ed ... then it’s difficult for the media to
act as independent sources of informa
tion and verifiers of information given
to us by the government,” she said.
Law Professor Garrett Epps said
me decision, even 4U
years after the fact, re
mains extremely relevant
to modern journalists.
“This is not legal histo
ry. New York Times v.
Sullivan is the daily stock
and trade of every work
ing journalist,” he said.
Epps himself benefited
from the protections af
forded by the Sullivan de
cision. When he started a
paper in Richmond, Va.,
he said he encountered
abrasive public officials
that made his job difficult.
Supreme Court Justice
William Brennan Jr. wrote
the majority opinion for
the case, and his words re
main nearly immortalized.
“Thus, we consider this
case against the back
ground of a profound na
tional commitment to the principle that
debate on public issues should be unin
hibited, robust, and wide-open, and that
it may well include vehement, caustic,
and sometimes unpleasantly sharp at
tacks on government and public offi
cials,” he said.
moriahbalingit@ daily emerald. com
IN BRIEF
Ralph Nader to tout
"Crashing the Party"
Independent presidential candi
date Ralph Nader will make a cam
paign stop in Eugene on Sunday to
promote himself as a viable alterna
tive to presidential front-runners
George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry.
Although Nader will not appear on
the Oregon state ballot this Novem
ber, he is still eligible as a write-in
candidate. On Sept. 28, the U.S.
Supreme Court denied Nader’s ap
peal of a controversial Sept. 22 Ore
gon Supreme Court ruling that pre
vented him from appearing on the
state ballot.
In September, the state court had
ruled that Secretary of State Bill Brad
bury was within the law when he in
validated about 3,000 of the nearly
18,000 signatures Nader supporters
had gathered, leaving them just shy
of the 15,306 needed to assure him a
spot on the ballot.
The speech will begin at 8 p.m.
and will be held at the McDonald
Theatre Downtown, located at 1010
Willamette St. A $10 donation for
general admission and a $5 donation
for students is suggested.
The speech will be followed by a
book signing for Nader’s new book,
“Crashing the Party.”
— Parker Howell
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