malice
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 383 U.S. 53 - Linn v. United Plant Guard Workers of America, Local 114 · 1966Most cited · 1,962 citing opinions
defamatory statements published with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard of whether they were true or false
How the Supreme Court has restated “malice”
Each Supreme Court definition of “malice,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “malice”
Court decisions citing the 3 opinions that defined “malice” — 2,139 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 3 definitions, chronological · 1781–1966
- ORIGINAL
by malice the law only intends, that the speech be made in an evil and wicked temper of mind; and deliberation is so far essential, that the mere ebullition of a transient passion shall not be rigidly construed into design and criminality.
in spoken misprision
The malice spoken of in this rule is not merely the doing of an unlawful or injurious act. The word implies that the act complained of was conceived in the spirit of mischief, or of criminal indifference to civil obligations.
punitive damages