The E. W. Scripps Company and John Doe v. Thomas H. Maloney & Sons, Inc

Background

A company and an anonymous individual asked the Court to review a libel dispute with another company after a state appeals court decided the case. The petition sought review of a state-court libel ruling coming from the Court of Appeals of Ohio, Cuyahoga County. The question involved whether liability could be imposed for discussion of public affairs.

Reasoning

The Court refused to take the case and denied review, so it did not issue a majority ruling on the constitutional question. Because the Court denied review, there is no new national explanation in this opinion. One Justice, however, explained his view that any state or federal libel law that imposes liability for discussing public affairs abridges freedom of speech and of the press under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and that he would have granted review and summarily reversed.

Real world impact

Because the Court declined to decide, the lower court’s outcome remains in effect for this case and no Supreme Court rule was announced. The broader constitutional question about when libel liability may attach to discussion of public affairs remains unresolved by the high court and could be decided differently in a future case. For now, similar disputes must be handled by state and lower federal courts.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Douglas stated that, based on his earlier opinions, he would have taken the case and quickly reversed any law that imposes liability for discussing public affairs, emphasizing strong free speech and press protections.