[of freedom of speech and press] require . . . a federal rule that prohibits a public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with actual malice -- that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." We brought these two cases here, 385 U.S. 811, 385 U.S. 812, to consider the impact of that decision on libel actions instituted by persons who are not public officials, but who are "public figures" and involved in issues in which the public has a justified and important interest. The sweep of the New York Times rule in libel actions brought under state law was a question expressly reserved in that case, 376 U.S., at 283, n. 23, and while that question has been involved in later cases, Garrison v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 64; Rosenblatt v. Baer, 383 U.S. 75; Time, Inc. v. Hill, 385 U.S. 374, it has not been fully settled.
