A Press Freedom Case in Peril, From a Lawyer Who Helped Write It
#Alan Dershowitz#New York Times v. Sullivan#Supreme Court#Shadow Docket#Press Freedom#Legal Precedent#First Amendment
📌 Key Takeaways
Alan Dershowitz helped create New York Times v. Sullivan but now wants it revised or overturned
The 'shadow docket' refers to emergency applications with minimal briefing that produce significant rulings
The Supreme Court justices prefer 'emergency docket' or 'interim docket' terminology
New York Times v. Sullivan established important press freedom protections in 1964
📖 Full Retelling
Alan Dershowitz, the prominent legal scholar who helped craft the landmark New York Times v. Sullivan Supreme Court case, is now petitioning the nation's highest court to revise or overturn the very decision he once helped create, as revealed in recent legal proceedings at the Supreme Court of the United States. The development comes amid ongoing debates about the court's use of what critics term the 'shadow docket' - emergency applications that move quickly through the system with minimal briefing but produce significant interim rulings that affect legal proceedings while cases work their way through lower courts. The justices themselves reportedly prefer terms like 'emergency docket' or 'interim docket' over the more critical 'shadow docket' nomenclature, reflecting their sensitivity to how these procedures are characterized in public discourse. The New York Times v. Sullivan case, decided in 1964, represents one of the most significant First Amendment rulings in American history, providing strong protections for freedom of the press and setting a high bar for public figures seeking to prove defamation.
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of a supreme court are binding on all other courts in a nat...
Alan Morton Dershowitz ( DUR-shə-wits; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional and criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appointed as the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law in 1993. Dershowitz ...
These days, critics use the “shadow docket” to refer to applications that rocket up to the court on thin briefs and yield brisk but consequential orders, which are intended to govern the state of play while a case is litigated in the lower courts. The justices don’t care for the term, preferring “emergency docket” or “interim docket.”
