Make No Law

The Pulitzer Prize winner, New York Times columnist, and author of Gideon's Trumpet interweaves a powerful account of the landmark Sullivan Case that revolutionized First Amendment law. In 1960 a city official in Montgomery, Alabama, sued The New York Times for libel—and was awarded $500,000 by a local jury—because the paper had published an ad critical of Montgomery's brutal response to civil rights protests. The centuries of legal precedent behind the Sullivan case and the U.S. Supreme Court's historic reversal of the original verdict are expertly chronicled in this gripping book. It is our best account yet of a case that redefined what newspapers—and ordinary citizens—can print or say.

“A riveting detailed account . . . [Make No Law] is nothing less than a comprehensive history of free speech in America.”—Philadelphia Inquirer

“Superbly written . . . a compelling drama that clearly places the Sullivan decision in the context of the court’s still evolving notions of free speech and fully illuminates the constitutional principles at stake . . . an essential guide.” —Boston Globe