Falwell and Flynt Before High Court : Justices Hear Lively Exchange on Freedom for Satire and Parody

The Rev. Jerry Falwell and sex magazine publisher Larry Flynt sat silently across from one another in a crowded courtroom today as the Supreme Court heard lively arguments in a free-press controversy the two men sparked.

At issue is the constitutional protection to be given satire and parody, and the case is being watched closely by many in the news business, especially political cartoonists and commentators.

The justices, whose ruling is expected by July, must decide the validity of a $200,000 award won by Falwell for an advertising parody that appeared in Flynt’s magazine, Hustler.

The ad purports to quote Falwell discussing a sexual encounter with his mother in a Virginia outhouse.

‘Public Figure ... Thick Skin’

“Hustler has every right to say that man (Falwell) is full of b.s.,” argued Flynt’s lawyer, Alan L Isaacman of Beverly Hills. “This is a public figure, somebody’s who’s supposed to have a thick skin.”

When Isaacman added that the effect of the ad is “Hustler saying, let’s bring this stuffed shirt down to our level,” the courtroom erupted in laughter.

Falwell’s lawyer, Norman Roy Grutman of New York City, urged the justices to preserve his client’s legal victory. He called the ad “deliberate, malicious character assassination.”

Before the 60-minute session began, many in the courtroom stood or craned necks to catch a glimpse of Flynt, who during a 1983 argument session was forcibly removed from the justices’ presence and arrested for shouting obscenities.

Today, Flynt sat impassively. But the justices displayed more than the usual animation.

Political Cartoon Cited

When Isaacman told of a 200-year-old political cartoon that showed George Washington riding a donkey and referred to him as “an ass,” Justice Antonin Scalia shot back, “I can handle that. I think George could handle that.”

After the courtroom laughter subsided, Scalia added, “That’s a far cry from committing incest with your mother in an outhouse.”

At one point, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist asked Grutman what legal protections should be available to a cartoonist who portrays a politician as “one big windbag, a turkey.”

Grutman said such portrayals are legally protected unless they represent a “worthless kind of verbal assault.”

Small Print at Bottom

The parody at issue appeared in the November, 1983, and March, 1984, issues of Hustler.

The advertisement, with a photograph of Falwell, purportedly quotes him discussing a sexual encounter with his mother and describing himself as a habitual drunkard.

At the bottom of the page in small print readers are told that the ad is a parody “not to be taken seriously.”

Finding the bogus ad no laughing matter, Falwell sued Flynt and Hustler for $45 million.