The New York Times c. SullivanThe 1st Amendment gives us freedom of speech, religion, petition, and assembly. It also gives us freedom of the press. The press has the right to publish news, information and opinions without government interference. In this case, this right is called into question. The New York Times V. Sullivan case is an important landmark case because it protects the press from defamation suits for making false statements about public officials unless they were made with actual malice. The origin of this case began with an advertisement in the New York Times. named Heed their rising voices. Before the ad was released, Martin Luther King was arrested for perjury regarding two fraudulent tax returns in 1956 and 1958. As a result, a committee was founded to help raise funds for King's legal defense. In March 1960, the Committee in Defense of Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Freedom in the South took out a full-page advertisement in the New York Times seeking donations for King's defense and related matters. to the civil rights movement, such as support....