U.S. Supreme Court at Odds with Collier County Court

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ

Even when considering some instances of defamation or fraud, the Court has instructed that falsity alone may not suffice to bring the speech outside the First Amendment; the statement must be a knowing and reckless falsehood. See New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254, 280.

Here [in this case], the Government seeks to convert a rule that limits liability even in defamation cases where the law permits recovery for tortious wrongs into a rule that expands liability in a different, far greater realm of discourse and expression.

(June 28, 2012)