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15 canonical passages across 9 cases, quoted by 2,631 opinions in total. These passages cluster together because the same opinions keep quoting them side by side: they state parts of one doctrine. The anchor passage is from New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.
| # | Case | Flag | Canonical passage | Citers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York Times Co. v. Sullivan Anchor | green | “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” | 917 |
| 2 | New York Times Co. v. Sullivan | green | “profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open.” | 522 |
| 3 | St. Amant v. Thompson | green | “there must be sufficient evidence to permit the conclusion that the defendant in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication.” | 405 |
| 4 | Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. | green | “thrust themselves to the forefront of particular public controversies in order to influence the resolution of the issues involved.” | 144 |
| 5 | Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. | green | “so long as they do not impose liability without fault, the states may define for themselves the appropriate standard of liability for a publisher or broadcaster of defamatory falsehood injurious to a private individual.” | 135 |
| 6 | Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. | green | “voluntarily injects himself or is drawn into a particular public controversy and thereby becomes a public figure for a limited range of issues.” | 99 |
| 7 | St. Amant v. Thompson | green | “recklessness may be found where there are obvious reasons to doubt the veracity of the informant or the accuracy of his reports.” | 94 |
| 8 | Hutchinson v. Proxmire | green | “those charged with defamation cannot, by their own conduct, create their own defense by making the claimant a public figure.” | 62 |
| 9 | St. Amant v. Thompson | green | “reckless conduct is not measured by whether a reasonably prudent man would have published, or would have investigated before publishing.” | 57 |
| 10 | Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton | green | “it cannot be said that evidence concerning motive or care never bears any relation to the actual malice inquiry.” | 52 |
| 11 | Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. | green | “judges, as expositors of the constitution, must independently decide whether the evidence in the record is sufficient to cross the constitutional threshold that bars the entry of any judgment that is not supported by clear and convincing proof of 'actual malice.” | 42 |
| 12 | Thornhill v. Alabama | green | “freedom of discussion, if it would fulfill its historic function in this nation, must embrace all issues about which information is needed or appropriate to enable the members of society to cope with the exigencies of their period.” | 37 |
| 13 | Wolston v. Reader's Digest Assn., Inc. | green | “a private individual is not automatically transformed into a public figure just by becoming involved in or associated with a matter that attracts public attention.” | 36 |
| 14 | Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. | green | “permitting recovery of presumed and punitive damages in defamation cases absent a showing of 'actual malice' does not violate the first amendment when the defamatory statements do not involve matters of public concern.” | 19 |
| 15 | Wolston v. Reader's Digest Assn., Inc. | green | “dragged unwillingly into the controversy.” | 10 |
A red or yellow flag on a member means the underlying case has negative treatment: for those, check the case page before relying on the passage.