Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment [Paperback]

Anthony Lewis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0679739394 | ISBN-13: 978-0679739395 | Publication Date: September 1, 1992

The First Amendment puts it this way: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." Yet, in 1960, a city official in Montgomery, Alabama, sued The New York Times for libel -- and was awarded $500,000 by a local jury -- because the paper had published an ad critical of Montgomery's brutal response to civil rights protests. The centuries of legal precedent behind the Sullivan case and the U.S. Supreme Court's historic reversal of the original verdict are expertly chronicled in this gripping and wonderfully readable book by the Pulitzer Prize -- winning legal journalist Anthony Lewis. It is our best account yet of a case that redefined what newspapers -- and ordinary citizens -- can print or say.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A riveting detailed account...[Make No Law] is nothing less than a comprehensive history of free speech in America.”—Philadelphia Inquirer

“Superbly written... a compelling drama that clearly places the Sullivan decision in the context of the court's still evolving notions of free speech and fully illuminates the constitutional principles at stake...an essential guide.” —Boston Globe

From the Publisher

"A riveting, detailed account...[Make No Law] is nothing less than a comprehensive history of free speech in America."--Philadelphia Inquirer

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (September 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679739394
• ISBN-13: 978-0679739395
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,466 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > Law > Constitutional Law

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important book for media, civil rights, and legal history, July 1, 2003

By 

Alan Mills (Chicago, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment (Paperback)

As with Gideon's Trumpet, Anthony Lewis (long time New York times columnist who went to Harvard Law so that he could better report on the Supreme Court) manages to explain a complex legal decision, set the decision against its historical background, explain the legal history of the Court's reasoning, and give cogent examples of how the case has been applied--all in a very readable book.

In the early 60's, the struggle for racial justice in the south had reached the boiling point. Bull Connor was using his dogs and hoses against non-violent blacks marching in the streets, and Alabama expelled several university students for sitting in at a restaurant. Martin Luther King had been arrested for tax fraud by the State of Alabama--claiming that SCLC funds had been diverted for his personal use (all charges were eventually dropped). The media was covering these events nationally (and increasingly internationally).

To raise some money, some southern ministers placed an ad in the New York Times, describing some of these events, and asking for money to defend Dr. King against the false charges.

A member of the Birmingham City Council, in a well orchestrated attempt to shut down northern media coverage, sued the New York Times for lible, and won a $500,000 verdict in state court.

These events set the stage for the now famous decision by the United States Supreme Court in New York Times v. Sullivan.

While the decision was unanimous (at least in the result), Lewis digs deeper, and describes the process by which the judges meshed often incompatible views into a coherent rule of law, which continues to be applied today (although, not always as the Court intended).

The intended and unintended consequences which flowed from Sullivan form the third strand of Lewis' book, and are in themselves instructive, but probably not as interesting (they are often both obscure and dated) as those parts of the book (most of it) which focus on the history.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in today's media, the history of the contitution, how the Supreme Court works, or the history of the Civil Rights movement.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important book for media, civil rights, and legal history, July 1, 2003

By 

Alan Mills (Chicago, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment (Paperback)

As with Gideon's Trumpet, Anthony Lewis (long time New York times columnist who went to Harvard Law so that he could better report on the Supreme Court) manages to explain a complex legal decision, set the decision against its historical background, explain the legal history of the Court's reasoning, and give cogent examples of how the case has been applied--all in a very readable book.

In the early 60's, the struggle for racial justice in the south had reached the boiling point. Bull Connor was using his dogs and hoses against non-violent blacks marching in the streets, and Alabama expelled several university students for sitting in at a restaurant. Martin Luther King had been arrested for tax fraud by the State of Alabama--claiming that SCLC funds had been diverted for his personal use (all charges were eventually dropped). The media was covering these events nationally (and increasingly internationally).

To raise some money, some southern ministers placed an ad in the New York Times, describing some of these events, and asking for money to defend Dr. King against the false charges.

A member of the Birmingham City Council, in a well orchestrated attempt to shut down northern media coverage, sued the New York Times for lible, and won a $500,000 verdict in state court.

These events set the stage for the now famous decision by the United States Supreme Court in New York Times v. Sullivan.

While the decision was unanimous (at least in the result), Lewis digs deeper, and describes the process by which the judges meshed often incompatible views into a coherent rule of law, which continues to be applied today (although, not always as the Court intended).

The intended and unintended consequences which flowed from Sullivan form the third strand of Lewis' book, and are in themselves instructive, but probably not as interesting (they are often both obscure and dated) as those parts of the book (most of it) which focus on the history.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in today's media, the history of the contitution, how the Supreme Court works, or the history of the Civil Rights movement.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "...the only effectual guardian of every other right.", June 6, 2003

By 

Denise Brown (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment (Paperback)

In "Make No Law" Lewis brilliantly chronicles the evolution of freedom of speech as American courts strive to interpret the broad language of the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. The courts' interpretation of the First Amendment within Founding Father James Madison's broad protection by "absolute immunity" for criticism is contrasted with the British premise that truth is NOT a defense for libel and if an individual is defamed they do NOT have to demonstrate damages to be awarded huge amounts of money. Lewis engagingly recounts the courts' struggle to ensure that plaintiffs with frivolous loss of reputation claims do not intimidate the whistleblower and the news reporter into the silence of self-censorship through vivid examples of individuals ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a simple "letter to the editor" and the incredible saga of the landmark Supreme Court case, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, which could have bankrupt the New York Times into oblivion in 1964. The courts must be ever wary that the threat of multi-million dollar judgments do not become mightier than the pen. After reading "Make No Law," the fight for Internet free speech detailed in another monograph, "Be Careful Who You SLAPP," will come into sharp focus as the tragic miscarriage of justice in modern times. Yet, hope remains for the American legal system. Read "Make No Law" and be a proud optimist. And never stop striving for "liberty and justice for all"!