Goldwater v. Ginzburg

The plaintiff, Barry Goldwater, was a United States Senator from Arizona and had been a 1964 presidential candidate.

The defendants testified that they attended the July 1964 Republican National Convention and were not impressed with Senator Goldwater.

[4] Although the responses were presented as the "professional opinions" of the psychiatrists, Walter Earl Barton, the medical director of the American Psychiatric Association, sent Fact a letter of protest that argued a valid professional opinion required "the traditional (and confidential) doctor-patient relationship in which findings are based upon a thorough clinical examination" and warned that in the event the survey was published, the APA would "take all possible measures to disavow its validity".

"[2] The court found the defendants had libeled Senator Goldwater based on the article Fact published.

The United States Court of Appeals affirmed the award and the Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari (review); Justice Black and Justice Douglas joined a dissenting opinion, rather unusual at the time (1970) on orders denying "cert.