Louisiana Law Review Volume 53 | Number 4 March 1993 Is The ewN York Times "Actual Malice" Standard Really Necessary? A Comparative Perspective Russell L. Weaver Geoffrey Bennett Repository Citation Russell L. Weaver and Geoffrey Bennett, Is The New York Times "Actual Malice" Standard Really Necessary? A Comparative Perspective, 53 La. L. Rev. (1993) Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol53/iss4/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Louisiana Law Review by an authorized editor of LSU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Is The New York Times "Actual Malice" Standard Really Necessary? A Comparative Perspective Russell L. Weaver* Geoffrey Bennett** In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan,' the United States Supreme Court extended First Amendment guarantees to defamation actions.2 Many greeted the Court's decision with joy. Alexander Meiklejohn claimed that the decision was "an occasion for dancing in the streets. ' 3 He believed that the decision would have a major impact on defamation law, and he was right. After the decision, many years elapsed during which "there were virtually no recoveries by public officials in libel 4 actions." The most important component of the New York Times decision was its "actual malice" standard. This standard provided that, in order to recover against a media defendant, a public official must demonstrate that the defendant acted with "malice.' In other words, the official must show that the defendant knew that the defamatory statement was © Copyright 1993, by LoUIsIANA LAW REVIEW.