Supreme Court's Refusal to Revisit Libel Ruling Challenged by Clarence Thomas

The Supreme Court has declined to revisit the landmark First Amendment decision in New York Times v. Sullivan, which established a higher bar for public figures to claim libel in civil suits. The ruling requires public figures to show "actual malice" before succeeding in a libel dispute. Justice Clarence Thomas, however, expressed his desire to reconsider the Sullivan decision in an appropriate case. The case at hand involves Don Blankenship, a former coal baron who sued media outlets for erroneously reporting him as a convicted felon during his 2018 US Senate campaign. Blankenship's attorneys argued that the Sullivan decision poses a danger to democracy, while media organizations defended the standard as necessary for free debate.