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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Laurence H Tribe and Dennis Aftergut

Does Justice Clarence Thomas want to overturn a landmark freedom of the press ruling?

Clarence Thomas Donald Trump United States Mike Pence Nixon White House
FILES-US-HEALTH-VIRUS-SUPREME COURT<br>(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 04, 2020, the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC. - The US Supreme Court on January 13, 2022, blocked President Joe Biden Covid vaccine-or-test mandate for large businesses. In a divided ruling, the nation's highest court allowed a Covid-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers at federal facilities to go ahead. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
‘Thomas asserted that ‘New York Times and its progeny have allowed media organizations and interest groups ‘to cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity.’ Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

On Monday, tucked away in a busy news cycle, was a quiet, subtle but no less terrifying judicial development. US supreme court justice Clarence Thomas laid out the formula for destroying the free press.

Thomas dissented to denial of certiorari in Coal Ridge Ministries Media v Southern Poverty Law Center with an opinion giving us more than a hint of precisely what he has in store. Freedom of the press has a rightwing target on its back. Thomas wrote that the court should “revisit” the landmark free press case of the 20th century, New York Times v Sullivan.

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