Scalia No Fan of Landmark Libel Decision

Claims the founders didn't intend to let the press have free rein, and Sullivan was a mistake

The Constitution's framers never intended to give journalists the right to libel public figures, and the Supreme Court really screwed up when it did so, according to Justice Antonin Scalia.

"One of the evolutionary provisions that I abhor is New York Times v. Sullivan," Scalia said in an interview last week with Charlie Rose.

The case, which was decided in March 1964, essentially held journalists could libel a public figure as long they don't do so with "reckless" disregard for the truth.