Constitution Day
ATT: Dinah Zeiger
JAMM - University of Idaho
P.O. Box 443178
Moscow, ID 83844-3178
FAX: (208) 885-6450
E-MAIL: dzeiger@uidaho.edu
Lesson 4: Times v. Sullivan and The Civil Rights Movement
Framing Questions
Goals
- What events/conditions shaped the libel fight between the southern states and northern media companies?
- What role did media play in the civil rights movement?
- What were the consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in New York Times v. Sullivan?
- What might the outcome of the civil rights movement have been had the Court backed Sullivan?
Goals
- Understand the provisions of the U.S. Constitution that supported Sullivan’s belief that he had been libeled.
- Explain how the Court’s decision benefitted media in general and aided the civil rights movement in particular.
- Discuss the importance of the constitutional guarantee of free speech and press.
- Identify the difference between opinion and fact.