The New York Times lost a libel case Thursday for the first time in more than 60 years. Ironically, both defeats played out in Alabama.
The earlier loss, in 1960, led to the landmark Times v. Sullivan ruling of 1964, in which the Supreme Court decided that it wasn’t enough for a public official to show that a offensive statement was false and defamatory. The official also had to show that it was published despite the knowledge that it was false, or made with reckless disregard for whether it was true or false.
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The second loss seems unlikely to lead to a similarly favorable outcome for the Times. Kai Spears, a former University of Alabama basketball player, won a $9.25 million judgment after the Times falsely reported that he was at the scene of a fatal shooting. Ryan Phillips, who covered the U.S. District Court trial for Patch, observes that $7.5 million of that was for punitive damages, which the Times will almost certainly appeal.