The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a challenge to its landmark New York Times v. Sullivan ruling. Justice Clarence Thomas has some thoughts.
The 1964 ruling established limits on public officials’ ability to sue on grounds of defamation, as well as the need to prove a standard of “actual malice” by the outlet making the allegedly defamatory statements.
The Supreme Court declined to hear Blankenship v. NBC Universal, LLC, a lawsuit brought by coal magnate Don Blankenship, who in 2015 was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of conspiring to violate safety standards at a Virginia mine where an explosion killed 29 workers. Blankenship was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $250,000. Last year, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction. Blankenship then sued NBC Universal, alleging that the news company had defamed him by describing him as a “felon.” Lower courts ruled that NBC had not acted with “malice” in their statements, and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court.
While Justice Thomas concurred that Blankenship’s case did not require a ruling by the Supreme Court, he called for the justices to review the standard set by New York Times v. Sullivan “in an appropriate case.”
“I continue to adhere to my view that we should reconsider the actual-malice standard,” Thomas wrote,” referencing his previous opinion in Coral Ridge Ministries Media, Inc. v. Southern Poverty Law Center. “New York Times and the Court’s decisions extending it were policy-driven decisions masquerading as constitutional law,” he added, “the actual-malice standard comes at a heavy cost, allowing media organizations and interest groups ‘to cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity.’”
The push from Thomas comes amid widespread media reporting on allegations of corruption and improper financial relationships involving the justice. A series of investigations by ProPublica and The New York Times have uncovered unreported gifts, real estate deals, and luxury perks given to Thomas by high-profile conservative figures — many of which were not reported in financial disclosures, or weighed as conflicts of interest in relevant cases.
In April, ProPublica reported on the extent of Thomas’ relationship with billionaire Harlan Crow. The real estate mogul gifted Thomas frequent rides on private jets, vacations to luxury resorts, and trips on his superyachts. Crow also purchased $133,000 in real estate from Thomas, and footed private school tuition bills for a child Thomas was raising.
Subsequent reporting has exposed Thomas’ relationship with other powerful conservative players, including the Koch brothers, oil tycoon Paul “Tony” Novelly, H. Wayne Huizenga, the former owner of the Miami Dolphins, and investor David Sokol.
Thomas has claimed that the omissions from his financial statements were nothing more than oversights and that he had been advised that “this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.”
I expect the Republicans to do nothing about this corrupt asshole. The lack of any kind of pushback from the Dems is worrying.
Curious what pushback you’d like to see from Dems? I’ve heard many condemn him, but no actions taken, I assume because none are viable.
I haven’t heard much condemnation, maybe you’re more plugged in than I am. Has Biden even mentioned Thomas’ corruption?
There is pushback, but if they try to do things in a legalistic manner, these things take time. Biden was very publicly setting the stage for further steps just a few days ago: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/oct/01/biden-supreme-court-maga
The democrats could follow the example of the republicans and abandon all norms and decency, which would allow them to play the game on a more equal playing field with the republicans, but in doing so, they would become what they are trying to stop.
They’d also be 30 years behind in stacking the courts and regulatory agencies with patsies.
If the shoe was on the other foot, then it would not surprise me one bit if the republicans tried storming the supreme court with a mob. Once you throw out norms and conventions and just stick to the pretense of them when it is convenient for you, then a lot becomes possible.
But if the democrats try to actually do things in a legalistic manner, that will take time. I’m already very relieved that they are at last publicly calling out the fascist behaviours of the extreme right media and republican party. For too long they have been pretending that it was all business as usual, while the USA democracy has already been in decline for decades.
This is the same guy who is in an interracial marriage and voted to illegalize interracial marriage. He literally can’t be trusted with anything.
He didn’t vote to make interracial marriage illegal. That’s not come before the court (and likely will not, because people would actually flip the fuck out)
No, what Thomas did was write a dissent in Obergefell that tried to create a make believe difference between the historical precedent of marriage being only between a man and a woman, and the historical precedent of interracial marriage being just as illegal as gay marriage.
He says that what he does is fine and should be celebrated, but if people he doesn’t like, do the same, they should rot in prison or be chemically castrated. (Both historically used punishments for being gay)
Close, he was saying these cases were susceptible to being overturned if they weren’t reinforced with legislation. For fifty years, Roe was called a bad judicial decision, even by Joe Biden and needed to be solidified in legislation. This is the danger of the courts “legislating from the bench” instead of just deciding constitutionality.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The 1964 ruling established limits on public officials’ ability to sue on grounds of defamation, as well as the need to prove a standard of “actual malice” by the outlet making the allegedly defamatory statements.
“I continue to adhere to my view that we should reconsider the actual-malice standard,” Thomas wrote,” referencing his previous opinion in Coral Ridge Ministries Media, Inc. v. Southern Poverty Law Center.
The push from Thomas comes amid widespread media reporting on allegations of corruption and improper financial relationships involving the justice.
A series of investigations by ProPublica and The New York Times have uncovered unreported gifts, real estate deals, and luxury perks given to Thomas by high-profile conservative figures — many of which were not reported in financial disclosures, or weighed as conflicts of interest in relevant cases.
The real estate mogul gifted Thomas frequent rides on private jets, vacations to luxury resorts, and trips on his superyachts.
Subsequent reporting has exposed Thomas’ relationship with other powerful conservative players, including the Koch brothers, oil tycoon Paul “Tony” Novelly, H. Wayne Huizenga, the former owner of the Miami Dolphins, and investor David Sokol.
The original article contains 471 words, the summary contains 187 words. Saved 60%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Fuck you, Thomas. I hope all major news networks publish (even more) scathing exposés on every single shitty thing you’ve done.
when this guy dies i’m totally going to shit on his grave
