In 2019, Justice Clarence Thomas raised the prospect of overturning one of the most consequential free speech decisions ever made. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan is a 1964 landmark case that strengthened First Amendment protections by enabling journalists and writers, from top national outlets to local newspapers and bloggers, to pursue the truth without being afraid of being sued. In his book Murder the Truth, author David Enrich explores how Justice Thomas' words coincide with a surge in legal threats and litigation against journalists and media outlets.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley. One day in February of 2019, during a gathering of the Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas raised the prospect of overturning one of the most consequential free speech decisions ever made.
that strengthened First Amendment protections by enabling journalists and writers from top national outlets to local newspapers and bloggers to pursue the truth without being afraid of being sued. Well, in a new book, author David Enrich explores how Justice Thomas's words coincide with the surge in legal threats and litigation against journalists and media outlets.
The charge is being led by the powerful tech billionaires, corporations and our president, who made clear his intent back in 2016 on the campaign trail.
If I become president, oh, do they have problems. They're going to have such problems.
And one of the things I'm going to do, and this is only going to make it tougher for me, and I've never said this before, but one of the things I'm going to do if I win, and I hope I do, and we're certainly leading, is I'm going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.
We're going to open up those libel laws.
As Enrich's book points out, this was the first time a major U.S. candidate had ever talked about the reform of libel laws in a stump speech. President Trump has since sued network outlets like CBS and ABC, as well as smaller publications like the Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer, claiming election interference.
In Murder the Truth, Fear, the First Amendment, and A Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful, David Enrich investigates what he calls the secret movement to overturn the landmark Supreme Court decision and what it could mean for press freedom. Enrich is the business investigations editor for The New York Times. He's written several books about the intersection of law, business, and power.
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