This week in Christian history: Falwell loses at Supreme Court; UMC backs traditional marriage

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, February 20, 2022

Supreme Court rules against Jerry Falwell – Feb. 24, 1988

The Rev. Jerry Falwell speaks at the SBC Pastors’ Conference on in a June 20, 2005 file photo in Nashville, Tenn. A Liberty University executive says the Rev. Jerry Falwell has died. | (Photo: AP / Mark Humphrey, File)

This week marks the anniversary of when the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the Rev. Jerry Falwell in his lawsuit against pornographer Larry Flynt.

Falwell had sued Flynt over the front cover of a 1983 edition of Hustler Magazine, in which Falwell was negatively depicted in a parody advertisement.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist authored the unanimous opinion, reversing a lower court ruling and concluding that, as a public figure, Falwell could be parodied in such a manner.

“Despite their sometimes caustic nature, from the early cartoon portraying George Washington as an ass down to the present day, graphic depictions and satirical cartoons have played a prominent role in public and political debate,” wrote Rehnquist.

“We conclude that public figures and public officials may not recover for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress by reason of publications such as the one here at issue without showing in addition that the publication contains a false statement of fact which was made with ‘actual malice,’ i.e., with knowledge that the statement was false or with reckless disregard as to whether or not it was true.”

Despite the major legal battles and apparent ideological disagreements, Falwell and Flynt eventually became good friends years after the Supreme Court decision.