JustRedPillMe

In 1983, Author William Peter Blatty (who wrote the book The Exorcist) sued the New York Times for excluding his book from the newspaper’s Best Seller List. The court case reached the US Supreme Court, but they declined to hear the case, so the findings of the Supreme Court of California stood. The findings were that the New York Times Best Seller List is an editorial list, and not an objective factual ranking. This means that books may be excluded from the list for any reason, even if that reason is editorial discretion.

The Times contends that Blatty’s intentional interference claims – and his other claims as well – do not, and cannot, state a claim on which relief may be granted. In support it argues, inter alia, that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 2, of the California Constitution establish an absolute bar to liability. For the reasons that follow, we agree.