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Hustler Magazine V. Falwell | bgcolor="6699FF" | Hustler Magazine v. Falwell | align="center" | 100px
Supreme Court of the United States | bgcolor="6699FF" | Argued December 2, 1987
Decided February 24, 1988 | | {| align="center" | | valign="top"|Full case name: | valign="top"|''Hustler Magazine and Larry C. Flynt v. Jerry Falwell | | valign="top"|Citations: | valign="top"|485 U.S. 46; 108 S. Ct. 876; 99 L. Ed. 2d 41; 1988 U.S. LEXIS 941; 56 U.S.L.W. 4180; 14 Media L. Rep. 2281 | | valign="top"|Prior history: | valign="top"|Judgment for plaintiff, W.D. Va.; affirmed, 797 F.2d 1270 (4th Cir. 1986); rehearing denied, 4th Cir., 11-4-86; certiorari granted, 480 U.S. 945 (1987) | | valign="top"|Subsequent history: | valign="top"|none | } | | bgcolor="6699FF" | Holding | | The creators of parodies of public figures are protected by the First Amendment against civil liability, unless the parody includes false statements of fact made in knowing or reckless disregard of the truth. Fourth Circuit reversed. | | bgcolor="6699FF" | Court membership | | {| align="center" | | Chief Justice: William Rehnquist | | Associate Justices: William Brennan, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy | } | | bgcolor="6699FF" | Case opinions | | {| align="center" | | Majority by: Rehnquist | | Joined by: Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens, O'Connor, Scalia | | Concurrence by: White | | Kennedy took no part in the consideration or decision of the case | } | | bgcolor="6699FF" | Laws applied | | U.S. Const. amend. I, XIV | Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988) was a case argued before the United States Supreme Court. The decision strengthened free speech rights in relation to parodies of public figures by extending the "actual malice" test of New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964). The case was argued on December 24, 1987 and the Court handed down its decision on February 24, 1988 by a vote of 8 to 0. William Rehnquist wrote for the Court, Byron White concurred. Anthony Kennedy had taken his seat on the bench a mere six days before the decision was handed down, and so did not take part in the case. History Larry Flynt made a fortune and contributed to the rise of the sexual revolution in America through publication of Hustler Magazine. While Hustler has always been known for its explicit, even gynecologic pictures of nude women and its crude humor, the prominent fundamentalist Protestant minister Jerry Falwell found nothing funny about a 1983 parody featuring him. In a parody of a magazine advertisement for a popular alcoholic drink, Hustler described a drunk Falwell having an incestuous encounter with his mother in an outhouse. Falwell sued Flynt, alleging libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The satire in question was a fake advertisement, parodying a real advertising campaign for Campari, an Italian aperitif. The real ads were tongue-in-cheek interviews with celebrities talking about their first time. The ads played off a double entendre, with the headline (X talks about his first time) and the interview first sounding like a discussion of the stars first sexual experience, then revealing that the discussion was about their first time trying Campari. The Hustler parody featured a picture of Falwell, and an "interview" in which "Falwell" describes his first sexual experience as occurring with Mom in an outhouse while both were "drunk off our God-fearing asses on Campari." In the spoof interview, "Falwell" goes on to say that he was so intoxicated that "Mom looked better than a Baptist whore with a $100 donation," that he decided to have sex with his mother since she had "showed all the other guys in town such a good time," and that they had intercourse regularly afterwards. Finally, when asked if he had tried Campari since, "Falwell" answered, "I always get sloshed before I go out to the pulpit. You dont think I could lay down all that bullshit sober, do you?" The ad carried a disclaimer in small print at the bottom of the page, reading "ad parody -- not to be taken seriously." The magazine's table of contents also listed the ad as "Fiction; Ad and Personality Parody." A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia found the parody did not amount to libel. This is because New York Times v. Sullivan set a very high standard -- "actual malice" -- for libel against "public figures," such as politicians and celebrities. Moreover, libel pertains to a false statement of fact, while the jury found that the ad "was not reasonably believable." The jury was not convinced that a typical person reading the satire would have thought that Jerry Falwell really did make the statements in question or have sex with his mother in an outhouse. Nonetheless, the jury returned $200,000 in damages for Falwell on the basis that Flynt had intentionally inflicted "emotional distress" on Falwell. Flynt decided to appeal. Flynt's lawyer argued that it was just too easy to prove that a satirist intended to emotionally distress his target. If the Supreme Court accepted that standard, then it would make it very easy for public figures to win damages from satirists. This would have a chilling effect on satire, as cartoonists and comedians would have to worry that they didn't hurt anyone's feelings too badly. Issues Can a public figure recover damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress based on a satire? No. The Court found that under the First Amendment, an obvious satire or parody of a public figure remains protected speech, even if it causes emotional distress to that person. The Supreme Court agreed with Flynt's arguments, and held that a public figure couldn't recover damages for "intentional infliction of emotional distress" without showing not only that the publication contained a "false statement of fact" (that is, a statement that a reasonable reader would believe to be true), but also that the satirist acted with "actual malice" (that is, "with knowledge that the statement was false or with reckless disregard as to whether or not it was true"). The Supreme Court overturned the decision of the lower court. The court stated that satire (even outrageous satire) has a long and important history in America and that the Founding Fathers had specifically intended for the First Amendment to protect these types of parodies. The court cited many examples of famous, if bitingly satrical, political cartoons, "from the early cartoon portraying George Washington as an ass down to the present day." Dramatization Related cases External links
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