About This Lesson
The first document is a quick handout that briefly reviews the 1st Amendment, has students answer a question about freedom of the press, then explains the John Peter Zenger case, asks students if they think libel should be illegal, and then explains the NYT v. Sullivan case, finally asking students if unknowingly false statements should be considered libel.
The second document removes the Zenger case (since it's before the U.S. existed) and replaces it with two cases about prior restraint - Near V. Minnesota and New York Times Co. v. United States (the Pentagon Papers). Then, the document includes the same New York Times v. Sullivan case, and concludes with the Hustler Magazine v. Falwell case about libel and artistic parody.
