Editorial cartoonist Pat Oliphant drew this cartoon after following the Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, the 1988 Supreme Court case. Oliphant died July 13 at age 90.
Pat Oliphant, bottom, with, from left: David Holzworth, the author's husband; Roslyn Mazer; and Susan Conway Oliphant in August 2021.
Courtesy photo
Editorial cartoonist Pat Oliphant drew this cartoon after following the Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, the 1988 Supreme Court case. Oliphant died July 13 at age 90.
When you watch your favorite late-night talk show or browse editorial cartoons in your newspaper or online, you might want to say thanks to Pat Oliphant, whose cartoons and support for satire helped deliver a huge win for the First Amendment in the Supreme Court nearly 40 years ago.
“Do you think I could go with?” Pat Oliphant asked a few days before the Supreme Court was to hold oral argument in Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, the 1988 Supreme Court case that saved cartoonists and other satirists from ruinous damage suits. I had worked with Pat and other leading cartoonists in crafting our amicus brief in support of Hustler, urging reversal of a $200,000 verdict for “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” Under Virginia common law, the aggrieved did not have to prove the offending statement was false, only that it was “outrageous” and was meant to and did cause serious emotional distress — a motive and consequence nearly all cartoonists with any self-respect would have to acknowledge.
The appendix to our brief contained dozens of cartoons from the Thomas Nast era to the present day, depicting local, state and national leaders as horrible beasts and worse — all in service of exposing hypocrisy, corruption or malfeasance.
Pat had never been to the court and hoped to get a peek at the festivities. We were able to secure a press pass for him. Pat sat on the edge of his seat, sketch pad, pens, and pencils in hand. The oral argument had most of us howling with laughter as Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Associate Justice Antonin Scalia gave tandem tutorials on how editorial cartoonists savagely depicted George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other public officials and public figures.
As students of American history and lovers of a good laugh, they knew the United States honored and perpetuated the free speech tradition of ridiculing the powerful.
The justices concluded that the First Amendment required them to hold their collective nose at Hustler‘s parodic depiction of Falwell as a pervert — and sided with Hustler in a unanimous ruling. “ ’Outrageousness’ in the area of political and social discourse has an inherent subjectiveness about it that would allow a jury to impose liability on the basis of the jurors’ tastes or views, or perhaps on the basis of their dislike of a particular expression,” the court advised. “An ‘outrageousness’ standard thus runs afoul of our longstanding refusal to allow damages to be awarded because the speech in question may have an adverse emotional impact on the audience.”
Our work together on the Hustler case was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Spanning nearly 40 years, this led to a joyful foursome with Pat, my husband and Pat’s brilliant wife and muse, Susan Conway. We spent long summer evenings at their beautiful home in Santa Fe, where they hosted family and scores of friends from around the world, some of whom retired there to be near them and its unique community of artists.
Pat Oliphant leaves an artistic legacy that cannot adequately be measured. Following his first U.S. stint at The Denver Post beginning in 1964, he went on to become the most widely syndicated cartoonist in the country. He inspired cartoonists and other artists, even while acknowledging that cartooning was a “dying art.” His quips are ones for the ages, many captured in the marvelous documentary, A Savage Art: The Life & Cartoons of Pat Oliphant. He once told Les Daly, writing then for The Atlantic, “We are in a forest fire of ignorance,” even thanking the Catholic Church for being good to him, then condemning the timidity of editors and publishers who are wary of offending people.
When asked whether finding satirical material was difficult, he noted, “In thirty-five odd years of watching and caricaturing public figures, I have increasingly felt that the figures are lampooning themselves and that the business of satire is continually and deliberately being undercut by the subjects.”
As we learned from biographer Roger Newman decades after the Hustler decision, Bill Rehnquist’s 1942 high school yearbook said that his “favorite pastime, in and out of school, [was] cartooning.” And as his son Christopher just confirmed, Justice Scalia had an Oliphant in his “man cave.”
These grace notes may well underlie the opinion announced by the chief justice in his bellowing voice in the Hustler case. But I will always think that the golden era of editorial cartooning throughout the 20th century — led by Pat Oliphant and other greats — guided the hand and spirit of the court in its triumphant affirmation of the First Amendment. This is a big chapter in Oliphant’s legacy.
Roslyn Mazer represented the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists as friends of the court in Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, the 1988 Supreme Court case affirming First Amendment protection for satire. A retired attorney and former federal official, she continues to advocate for editorial cartoonists and free expression.
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