SCOTUS leaves Sullivan defamation standard intact

The Supreme Court declined to revisit New York Times v. Sullivan, preserving the public-figure actual-malice standard for defamation and blocking Alan Dershowitz’s bid to overturn or narrow it in a CNN-related case tied to his impeachment remarks about Trump. Two conservative justices would have heard the case, but the majority kept the rule intact, with the 11th Circuit previously ruling for CNN and CNN arguing that Sullivan remains bedrock First Amendment law.