MCDONALD v. SMITH

Whether the conviction of a district attorney for criminal defamation under the Louisiana Criminal Defamation Statute violated the First Amendment.

To what extent does the First Amendment protections for speech and press limit a state's power to award damages in a libel action brought by a public official against critics of his official conduct?

Whether a Virginia barratry statute which banned the improper solicitation of any legal or professional business unconstitutionally burdened the First Amendment freedom of association rights of the petitioner and petitioners clients.