MIAMI HERALD PUBLISHING CO. v. TORNILLO

Legal Principle at Issue

Whether a Florida statute that afforded a right to reply to personal attacks on political candidates by newspapers violated the First Amendment.

Action

Reversed. Petitioning party received a favorable disposition.

Facts/Syllabus

After the Miami Herald refused to print Pat Tornillo's replies to editorials critical of his candidacy for state office, he brought suit in Florida Circuit Court seeking injunctive and declaratory relief and damages, based on Florida's "right of reply" statute that grants a political candidate a right to equal space to answer criticism and attacks on his record by a newspaper, and making it a misdemeanor for the newspaper to fail to comply. The Circuit Court held the statute unconstitutional as infringing on the freedom of the press, and dismissed the action. The Florida Supreme Court reversed, holding that the statute did not violate constitutional guarantees, and that civil remedies, including damages, were available, and remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.

Importance of Case

In his 2005 memoir, Floyd Abrams, who filed an amicus brief, noted that "even though voters might have had more information as a result of the statute, the Court concluded that this was simply not an area in which a state legislature could" act.