Two defamation verdicts in one week test press protections

Juries in Alabama and Louisiana ruled against The New York Times and The Advocate on consecutive business days in August 2026, awarding $9.25 million and $300,000 respectively. Both verdicts met the "actual malice" standard — the constitutional threshold from the 1964 case New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. Whether that shield still holds may now be the question.