The New York Times appealed to the Supreme Court against appellee L.B. Sullivan.In 1960, Montgomery's police commissioner, L.B. Sullivan (plaintiff), sued the New York Times (defendant) in trial court for ruining his reputation through an ad posted about Montgomery's police and civil rights protestors. This advertisement was written and paid for by civil rights activists describing statements and accusations against the Montgomery police, claiming assault, destruction of property, and unjust arrest of Dr. Martin Luther King. Yet some things in the ad weren't true. Although Sullivan was not named in the advertisement, he claimed that it ruined his reputation under libel per se. The appellant argues that this advertisement is protected under the First Amendment.

Does the First Amendment protect those who criticize public officials? why?