Jerry Falwell v. Larry Flynt: THE FIRST AMENDMENT ON TRIAL

Smolla, Rodney

ISBN 10: 0252061519 / ISBN 13: 9780252061516

Published by University of Illinois Press, 1990

About this Item

Seller Inventory # Abebooks23701

Bibliographic Details

Title: Jerry Falwell v. Larry Flynt: THE FIRST ...

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Publication Date: 1990

Binding: Paperback

Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis:

In February 1988, the Supreme Court handed down its decision on one of the most explosive challenges to the First Amendment in legal history. The case began in 1983, when Larry Flynt and Hustler magazine published a parody that portrayed the Reverend Jerry Falwell--leader of the powerful Moral Majority--as a drunk who engaged in sexual relations with his mother. A shocked Falwell sued Flynt for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. After a wild trial in federal district court, a jury awarded Falwell substantial damages. A federal appeals court upheld the verdict, but then the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Flynt, a sweeping reaffirmation of the freedom of speech. This book is a highly entertaining and intellectually provocative account of this crucial legal battle. The author uses the trial as the centerpiece of a broad exploration of the First Amendment and its implications. In addition, he places the conflict in the larger context of modern televangelism and the pornography business--both lucrative enterprises with powerful media influence.

From Publishers Weekly:

This discussion of the First Amendment is based on the Falwell v. Flynt libel suit, recounted in colorful detail. Smolla, a William and Mary College law professor, helped write a "friend of the court" brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, which early this year overturned a $200,000 damage award to the evangelist for "intended" infliction of emotional distress he claimed to have suffered as a result of Hustler magazine's portrayal of him engaged in drunken sex with his mother in an outhouse. Making legal complexities accessible to the lay reader, the author demonstrates how the case reflects current cultural and moral attitudes grounded in collective community judgments between opposing ideals of a pluralistic society, in which some view the Constitution as a moral charter and others believe in public access to all ideas or fields of human interest, sometimes at the expense of the privacy of public figures. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court, stresses the author, in effect extended freedom of speech beyond verifiable fact to expressions of opinion even of an offensive nature.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.