Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful by David Enrich

Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful

by David Enrich

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Crime & Justice

If you run a small newsroom, a libel suit doesn't need to win to kill a story, since defending even a meritless one can ruin you. Enrich traces the litigants, lawyers and judges trying to overturn New York Times v. Sullivan, the 1964 ruling that makes public figures prove actual malice.

Core ideas
  • The Gawker template: Peter Thiel secretly funded Hulk Hogan's suit, and the verdict that sank Gawker became a model for wealthy litigants.
  • A firm built to sue: Clare Locke, founded in 2014, threatens and sues news outlets, and it sent the author threatening letters during his research.
  • Justices on board: Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch have both attacked Sullivan, though in 1991 Thomas had called its protections a price worth paying.
Published2025
Pages592
ISBN9780063433038
ReadJan 2026

Connected to 8 other books

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