From _The First Amendment Book_ by Robert J. Wagmam, p. 157: --- begin quote --- The Supreme Court's most ringing recent defense of freedom of the press came in 1988 (_Hustler Magazine v. Falwell_) when the Rev. Jerry Falwell tried to recover damages from _Hustler, charging the magazine and its publisher, Larry Flynt, with "intentional infliction of emotional injury." Falwell said he suffered emotional trauma after reading a vicious cartoon parody about himself in the sex magazine. The cartoon implied that Falwell had had sex with his mother in an outhouse. Effectively, what Falwell tried was an end run about libel law. He was clearly a public figure, and rather than have to prove{actual malice and loss of reputation (the parody was so ridiculous and extreme that no sane person could have believe it, and thus there was not lose of reputation), Falwell sought to prove that there had been an intentional infliction of emotional distress on the part of _Hustler and to try to collect on that tort basis. But the Court struck down the attempt. Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote that "in public debate our own citizens must tolerate insulting, and even outrageous speech in order to provide adequate breathing space to the freedoms protected by the First Amendment." --- end quote ---