Noah Feldman In a sign of hard times for traditional free speech values, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has added his voice to that of Justice Clarence Thomas in calling for a re-examination of the landmark 1964 precedent of New York Times v. Sullivan â the case that makes it extremely difficult for public figures to win libel suits. Thomasâ view, first expressed in 2019, was that the press protections established by Sullivan violated the original intent of the First Amendment. It was inconsistent with his own free speech jurisprudence and was therefore unlikely to garner support from other justices. Gorsuchâs opinion last week, in contrast, focused on the up-to-the-minute problem of misinformation in the age of social media. Gorsuchâs concerns arenât trivial or ideological. He quoted a 28-year-old old essay in support of them written by his Supreme Court colleague Elena Kagan when she was a law professor. Gorsuchâs opinion raises at least the possibility that other justices might be open to rethinking the question of public figure libel.