Hustler Magazine, Inc. et al. v. Jerry Falwell (485 U.S. 46) is a
U.S. Supreme Court case that was decided in 1988. It allowed the press to
parody public figures, in this case,
Larry Flynt's sex magazine
Hustler to parody Christian conservative
Jerry Falwell. The Court held that a public figure could not use state
tort law, in this case the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress, to make a claim against a publisher that had subjected the public figure to parody.
The reasoning of the court was based on the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech, which was held to override a state's interest in protecting public figures from intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The chain of events leading to this case is described in the article on Jerry Falwell.