Herbert v. Lando et al.

Decided April 18, 1979. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-1105 · 441 U.S. 153 (1979) · Cited 1,085 times

Holding

When a member of the press is alleged to have circulated damaging falsehoods and is sued for injury to the plaintiff's reputation, there is no privilege under the First Amendment's guarantees of freedom of speech and freedom of the press barring the plaintiff from inquiring into the editorial processes of those responsible for the publication where the inquiry will produce evidence material to the proof of a critical element of the plaintiff's cause of action.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts · 388 U.S. 130 (1967)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo · 418 U.S. 241 (1974)
• Hickman v. Taylor · 329 U.S. 495 (1947)
• United States v. Nixon · 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
• St. Amant v. Thompson · 390 U.S. 727 (1968)
• Time, Inc. v. Hill · 385 U.S. 374 (1967)
• Time, Inc. v. Firestone · 424 U.S. 448 (1976)
• Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Assn., Inc. v. Bresler · 398 U.S. 6 (1970)
• Roviaro v. United States · 353 U.S. 53 (1957)
• Branzburg v. Hayes · 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
• Schlagenhauf v. Holder · 379 U.S. 104 (1964)
• Rosenblatt v. Baer · 383 U.S. 75 (1966)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee · 412 U.S. 94 (1973)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Linn v. United Plant Guard Workers of America, Local 114 · 383 U.S. 53 (1966)
• Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc. · 403 U.S. 29 (1971)
• Old Dominion Branch No. 496 v. Austin · 418 U.S. 264 (1974)
• Saxbe v. Washington Post Co. · 417 U.S. 843 (1974)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. · 421 U.S. 132 (1975)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Grosjean v. American Press Co. · 297 U.S. 233 (1936)
• Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations · 413 U.S. 376 (1973)
• Stone v. Powell · 428 U.S. 465 (1976)
• United States v. Calandra · 414 U.S. 338 (1974)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Linkletter v. Walker · 381 U.S. 618 (1965)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart · 467 U.S. 20 (1984)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. · 472 U.S. 749 (1985)
• United States v. Alvarez · 567 U.S. 709 (2012)
• Calder v. Jones · 465 U.S. 783 (1984)
• Thornburgh v. Abbott · 490 U.S. 401 (1989)
• Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton · 491 U.S. 657 (1989)
• Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps · 475 U.S. 767 (1986)
• Bill Johnson's Restaurants, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board · 461 U.S. 731 (1983)
• Hutchinson v. Proxmire · 443 U.S. 111 (1979)
• University of Pennsylvania v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 493 U.S. 182 (1990)
• Florida Star v. B. J. F. · 491 U.S. 524 (1989)
• Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. August · 450 U.S. 346 (1981)
• Swidler & Berlin v. United States · 524 U.S. 399 (1998)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1979). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).