Commentary In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Sullivan v. the New York Times, a landmark opinion regarding libel law and a gift to irresponsible and inaccurate journalists across the land. Issued during the civil-rights era—a time when many constitutional protections were unthinkingly tossed aside in the name of a higher good—Sullivan essentially gave carte blanche for media companies to attack public figures with legal impunity. The case began in 1960 when the Times ran an ad from supporters of Martin Luther King, Jr. requesting donations to help the civil-rights leader. The ad, “Heed Their Rising Voices,” was the brainchild of King’s close advisor Bayard Rustin (a former Communist and early gay-rights activist), and sharply criticized the Montgomery, Ala., police, charging the cops with “an unprecedented wave of terror.” While the ad named no names, it came to the attention of the Montgomery police commissioner, L.B. …