Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Ass'n, Inc. v. Bresler

Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Association, Inc. v. Bresler, 398 U.S. 6 (1970), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that using the word "blackmail" in a newspaper article "was no more than rhetorical hyperbole" and that finding such usage as libel "would subvert the most fundamental meaning of a free press" guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The ruling also touched on the plaintiff's status as a public figure.

Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Assn., Inc. v. Bresler
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 24–25, 1970
Decided May 18, 1970
Full case nameGreenbelt Cooperative Publishing Association, Inc., et al., Petitioners v. Charles S. Bresler
Citations398 U.S. 6 (more)
90 S. Ct. 1537; 26 L. Ed. 2d 6; 1970 U.S. LEXIS 42; 1 Media L. Rep. 1589
Case history
Prior253 Md. 324, 252 A.2d 755 (1969); cert. granted, 396 U.S. 874 (1969).
Holding
Held that using the word "blackmail" in a newspaper article about a public figure "was no more than rhetorical hyperbole" and that finding such usage as libel "would subvert the most fundamental meaning of a free press".
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · William O. Douglas
John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr.
Potter Stewart · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall
Case opinions
MajorityStewart, joined by Burger, Harlan, Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun
ConcurrenceWhite
ConcurrenceBlack, joined by Douglas
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I
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