Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 3, 1985 Decided June 25, 1986
Full case name	Jack Anderson, et al. v. Liberty Lobby, Incorporated, et al.
Citations	477 U.S. 242 (more) 106 S. Ct. 2505; 91 L. Ed. 2d 202; 1986 U.S. LEXIS 115; 54 U.S.L.W. 4755; 4 Fed. R. Serv. 3d (Callaghan) 1041; 12 Media L. Rep. 2297
Holding
Summary judgment will not lie if the dispute about a material fact is "genuine," that is, if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun Lewis F. Powell Jr. · William Rehnquist John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Case opinions
Majority	White, joined by Marshall, Blackmun, Powell, Stevens, O'Connor
Dissent	Brennan
Dissent	Rehnquist, joined by Burger
Laws applied
Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (1986), is a United States Supreme Court case articulating the standard for a trial court to grant summary judgment. Summary judgment will lie when, taking all factual inferences in the non-movant's favor, there exists no genuine issue as to a material fact and the movant deserves judgment as a matter of law. Because courts almost always cite Liberty Lobby in their opinions for the standard regarding motions for summary judgment, Liberty Lobby is the most cited Supreme Court case.

Background

The Investigator, an investigative news magazine, published three articles about the Liberty Lobby, calling the organization and its founder Willis Carto antisemitic, racist and Fascist. Liberty Lobby and Carto sued Investigator Publishing and its publisher, journalist Jack Anderson for libel. The defendants moved for summary judgment under the standard set by New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, which requires a plaintiff to prove with clear and convincing evidence that a defamatory statement was made with actual malice. The District Court ruled that The Investigator had duly researched its statements and granted the motion. Summary judgment was reversed on appeal with respect to some of the alleged defamatory statements, with the Court of Appeals stating that evidence need not be clear and convincing for the purpose of summary judgment.

A majority of the Supreme Court held that when a "clear and convincing" standard applies, it applies as well to summary judgment. It vacated the Court of Appeals' ruling and remanded the case for further proceedings. Justices Rehnquist, Burger and (separately) Brennan dissented on the grounds that the Court's reasoning was too abstract to provide the necessary guidance to lower courts.

See also

• Celotex Corp. v. Catrett (1986), another major case on summary judgment under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

External links

• Text of Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242 (1986) is available from: Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress