# Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton > Supreme Court of the United States · June 22, 1989 · 491 U.S. 657 URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9431787 ## Case - **Full name:** Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton - **Court:** Supreme Court of the United States - **Decided:** June 22, 1989 - **Citations:** 491 U.S. 657; 16 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1881; 57 U.S.L.W. 4846; 109 S. Ct. 2678; 105 L. Ed. 2d 562; 1989 U.S. LEXIS 3133; 1989 WL 65717 - **Precedential status:** Published - **Opinion:** Concurrence by Kennedy - **Judges:** Kennedy, Scalia, Stevens, White, Blackmun - **Cited by:** 907 later opinions in the Frix Law Library ## Citator (automated) - No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases. - Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9431787 ## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction) - holding that “public figure plaintiff must prove more than an extreme departure from professional standards[,] and [] a newspaper’s motive in publishing a story – whether to promote an opponent’s candidacy or to increase its circulation – cannot provide a sufficient basis for … - stating that “it cannot be said that evidence concerning motive or care never bears any relation to the actual malice inquiry,” and noting that jury could have found actual malice on the basis, inter alia, that publisher was biased against plaintiff and in a “bitter rivalry” w… - holding that the standard for "reckless disregard" for the truth in a defamation action by a public figure "is a subjective one," requiring that "the defendant in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication," or that "the defendant actually had a high de… - explaining that reckless disregard for the truth at a minimum means that “the defendant must have made the false publication with a high degree of awareness of . . . probable falsity, or must have entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication” (quotations and c… - holding that evidence supported a finding of actual malice of a newspaper defendant based on the fact that several people had told the defendant the charges were not true and also the fact that the informant’s demeanor when providing the information raised “obvious doubts abou… ## Opinion text Justice Kennedy, concurring. I join the opinion of the Court, for in my view it is not inconsistent with the analysis set out in Justice Scalia’s separate concurrence. --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9431787. Public record. Not legal advice.