Word: libeler
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Then last spring, in successfully appealing another libel judgment to the U.S. Supreme Court,* the Times won a landmark decision (TIME, March 20, 1964). The Supreme Court ruled, in effect, that unless malice was proved, the conduct of public officials was fair game for criticism, even if the criticism was unwarranted or untrue...
Even while losing the Connor case, the Times won another last week. A New York State supreme court jury decided in favor of the Times in a $1,000,000 libel suit brought by the J. Radley Metzger company, a textile firm. The suit was based on a 1958 Times editorial accusing the company of making "sweetheart contracts," defined in the editorial as "those which benefit racketeering union officials and employers." The jury agreed that however harsh the comment, the Times had acted without malice...
...Times, paid for by friends of Integration Leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., inspired $3,000,000 worth of libel suits from various offended Alabama state and municipal officers...
Alfie sued Sparks for libel-in effect demanding that Sparks prove that the original conviction was correct. Sparks tried, but a London jury was unconvinced. It found in Alfie's favor-thus casting Alfie's robbery rap in doubt. "Now," he says happily, "I shall press for my conviction to be quashed...
...first glance, Alfie seems to be asking too much. The doctrine of res judicata (the thing is decided) holds that a fully adjudicated conviction is final. But that doctrine applies only to the original parties-in Alfie's robbery case, that means the Crown v. Hinds. The libel suit involved different parties: Hinds v. Sparks, and only by coincidence was the robbery the key issue. Since it was the issue, however, Alfie managed to have himself found "innocent" in what laymen at least could view as a retrial. Whether he now deserves a pardon is up to Home Secretary...