Case Brief: New York Times v. Sullivan(1964) Case Facts: Sullivan, the plaintiff, was a Commissioner of the Police Department, Fire Department, as well as Department of Scales in Montgomery, Alabama. During the Civil Rights movement, he brought a civil libel action case against the New York Times Company, the defendant, after the newspaper printed defamatory and false statements about Sullivan’s actions to control/aid African American protesters as well as his behavior toward Martin Luther King, Jr.Legal Questions: Did Alabama’s law unconstitutionally violate the First Amendment’s freedom of speech as well as freedom of press protections? Outcome: Unanimous opinion that the Court ruled for the New York Times
