From Carol Burnett vs. The National Enquirer to William Westmoreland vs. CBS, lawsuits against the media have captured many a headline in recent years. This spirited account offers a close look at these attacks on the press and what they reveal about American culture,the legal system and libel law, and the way the press operates. Why, Rodney Smolla asks, have so many people--people as various as Ralph Nader, Clint Eastwood, Lillian Hellman, and Jerry Falwell--taken to suing the press? Are they mainly interested in money, vengeance, or the restoration of honor? Is the press under fire because it has grown too arrogant and oracular--attempting to set national agendas and monopolize the dispensation of truth? How important is the protection of reputation and privacy in American society, and how should those interests be reconciled with the competing social interests in robust freedom of speech? Are Americans becoming too thin--skinned, too devoted to self-image? Or are the problems of the media in court primarily of the media's own making? To shed light on these and other crucial issues, Smolla examines both the individual lawsuits and broader themes involving the economics of media litigation, the cultural forces that affect libel judgements, and the special problems posed by particular types of expression, such as fictionial works. The media outlets discussed are as varied as the personalities initiating the suits--from The New York Times and The Washington Post to Penthouse and Hustler. Continually lively and provocative, this book reveals much about the media's shortcomings and virtues, not to mention the American character itself. About the Author Rodney A. Smolla is Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Features: What the recent spate of lawsuits against the media reveal about our society · A lively glimpse into important aspects of the American character · Filled with personalities ranging from Carol Burnett to Ralph Nader

Suing the Press: Libel, the Media, and Power

Smolla, Rodney A.

Reference

Oxford University Press

From Carol Burnett vs. The National Enquirer to William Westmoreland vs. CBS, lawsuits against the media have made their own headlines in recent years. This spirited account offers a close look at these attacks on the press and what they reveal about American culture, the legal system and libel law, and the way the press operates. Why, Rodney Smolla asks, have so many people - people as various as Ralph Nader, Clint Eastwood, Lillian Hellman, and Jerry Falwell - taken to suing the press? Are they mainly interested in money, vengeance, or the restoration of honor? Is the press under fire because it has grown too arrogant? Are Americans becoming too thin-skinned, too devoted to self-image? How important is the protection of reputation and privacy in American society? To shed light on these and other issues, Smolla examines both individual lawsuits and broader themes involving the economics of media litigation, the cultural forces that affect libel judgments, and the special problems posed by particular types of expression, such as fictional works. The media outlets discussed are as varied as the personalitiess initiating the suits - from The Washington Post and The New York Times to Penthouse and Hustler. Always lively and provocative, this book reveals much about the media's shortcomings and virtues, as well as the American character itself.

Literature & Fiction

Classics

Looks at Jerry Falwell's libel suit against Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine and explains why the Supreme Court reversed the original verdict

Jerry Falwell V Larry Flynt: The First Amendment on Trial

Rules & Procedures

St Martins Pr

Deliberate Intent is the riveting account of the landmark Hit Man case, by noted First Amendment attorney Rod Smolla, who risked reputation and career when he took on a cause that seemed to oppose his strongest beliefs.          Early in 1992, Lawrence Horn hired a contract killer to execute his ex-wife and his severely brain-damaged son. On March 3, 1992, the man he hired, James Perry, traveled to Silver Spring, Maryland, and murdered Horn's ex-wife and child and the boy's nurse. Perry used a book called Hit Man as an instruction manual for the murders. The subsequent criminal trial became known as the Hit Man case, and after Horn and Perry were convicted of murder, the victims' families surprised the nation by filing an unprecedented wrongful death suit against Paladin Press, publisher of Hit Man. In a controversial turn of events, Paladin was being blamed for the murders.          Distinguished attorney Rod Smolla, First Amendment expert and vigorous advocate of free speech, was approached to represent the victims' families in the civil suit against Paladin. Smolla initially declined, but after reading Hit Man and likening it to "a loaded pistol or a vial of poison," he decided to take on the case, even though it seemed to go against his abiding belief in the First Amendment. Smolla argued that if Paladin Press knew and intended that its murder manual Hit Man would be used in the actual planning and execution of contract killings, Paladin was not entitled to immunity under the First Amendment. In an appeal that stunned the legal world, Smolla's argument prevailed and was affirmed by the Supreme Court. Deliberate Intent is the dramatic story of the events behind this landmark case--a story that includes murder, trials, and appeals and, most important, raises fascinating and difficult questions about our most cherished freedom.

Deliberate Intent: A Lawyer Tells the True Story of Murder by the Book

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Crown

The case was this: Lawrence Horn hired a contract killer to execute his ex-wife and severely brain-damaged son. On March 3, 1992, the man he hired, an inexperienced killer named James Perry, used a book called Hit Man -- billed by the publisher as "A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors" -- as a blueprint for the murders; following to the letter the book's explicit instructions on how to make the killings look like a burglary gone wrong and how to keep from leaving forensic evidence at the scene. To Horn and Perry it seemed like Hit Man was all they needed to create the perfect murder. They were wrong. The copy of Hit Man found in James Perry's possession actually helped the prosecution lock up Horn for life and send Perry to death row. But the Hit Man case was not closed. The victim's families shocked the nation by filing an unprecedented wrongful death suit against Paladin Press, the publisher of Hit Man -- a suit that seemed to defy the First Amendment itself. Although it went against his abiding belief in freedom of the press, Rod Smolla took the case, likening the book to "a loaded pistol or a vial of poison." Deliberate Intent is the dramatic story of the legal battle that followed.

Biographies & Memoirs

True Crime

Three Rivers Press

Free Speech in an Open Society

An exploration of the future of free speech argues that freedom of speech is constantly threatened by other social interests, analyzing symbolic and violent dissent and the "clear and present danger" doctrine

Free Speech In An Open Society

Criminal Law

KNOPF

American college campuses, where ideas are freely exchanged, contested, and above all uncensored, are historical hotbeds of political and social turmoil. In the past decade alone, the media has carefully tracked the controversy surrounding the speech of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia, the massacres at Virginia Tech, the dismissal of Harvard’s President Lawrence Summers, and the lacrosse team rape case at Duke, among others. No matter what the event, the conflicts that arise on our campuses can be viewed in terms of constitutional principles, which either control or influence outcomes of these events. In turn, constitutional principles are frequently shaped and forged by campus culture, creating a symbiotic relationship in which constitutional values influence the nature of universities, which themselves influence the nature of our constitutional values. In The Constitution Goes to College, Rodney A. Smolla—a former dean and current university president who is an expert on the First Amendment—deftly uses the American university as a lens through which to view the Constitution in action. Drawing on landmark cases and conflicts played out on college campuses, Smolla demonstrates how five key constitutional ideas—the living Constitution, the division between public and private spheres, the distinction between rights and privileges, ordered liberty, and equality—are not only fiercely contested on college campuses, but also dominate the shape and identity of American university life. Ultimately, Smolla compellingly demonstrates that the American college community, like the Constitution, is orderly and hierarchical yet intellectually free and open, a microcosm where these constitutional dichotomies play out with heightened intensity.

The Constitution Goes to College: Five Constitutional Ideas That Have Shaped the American University

Constitutional Law

NYU Press

Braveman, Daan, Banks, William C., Smolla, Rodney A.

Constitutional Law: Structure and Rights in Our Federal System (Casebook Series)

Banks, William C.

Braveman, Daan

Lexis Nexis/Matthew Bender

Book by Braveman, Daan, Banks, William C., Smolla, Rodney A.

Constitutional Law: Structure and Rights in Our Federal System

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smolla, Rodney A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Smolla, Rodney A.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smolla, Rodney A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Suing the Press: Libel, the Media, and Power

Suing the Press: Libel, the Media, and Power

Jerry Falwell V Larry Flynt: The First Amendment on Trial

Deliberate Intent: A Lawyer Tells the True Story of Murder by the Book

Deliberate Intent: A Lawyer Tells the True Story of Murder by the Book

Free Speech In An Open Society

The Constitution Goes to College: Five Constitutional Ideas That Have Shaped the American University

The Constitution Goes to College: Five Constitutional Ideas That Have Shaped the American University

Constitutional Law: Structure and Rights in Our Federal System (Casebook Series)

Constitutional Law: Structure and Rights in Our Federal System