This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

During 1957 and 1958, a special federal grand jury sitting in New York City conducted an investigation into the activities of Soviet intelligence agents in the United States. P's aunt and uncle, Myra and Jack Soble, were arrested in January 1957 on charges of spying. The Sobles later pleaded guilty to espionage charges, and in the ensuing months, the grand jury's investigation focused on other participants in a suspected Soviet espionage ring, resulting in further arrests, convictions, and guilty pleas. P was interviewed by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at his home in the District of Columbia. P was interviewed several more times in both Washington and New York City and traveled to New York on various occasions pursuant to grand jury subpoenas. On July 1, 1958, P failed to respond to a grand jury subpoena directing him to appear on that date. P had attempted to persuade law enforcement authorities not to require him to travel to New York for interrogation because of his state of mental depression. A Federal District Judge issued an order to show cause why P should not be held in criminal contempt of court. At least seven news stories focusing on P's failure to respond to the grand jury subpoena appeared in New York and Washington newspapers. P appeared in court on the return date of the show-cause order and offered to testify before the grand jury, but the offer was refused. P's wife, who then was pregnant, was called to testify as to P's mental condition at the time of the return date of the subpoena, but after she became hysterical on the witness stand, P agreed to plead guilty to the contempt charge. P received a 1-year suspended sentence and was placed on probation for three years, conditioned on his cooperation with the grand jury in any further inquiries regarding Soviet espionage. Newspapers reported the details of the contempt proceedings and P's guilty plea and sentencing. In all, 15 stories in newspapers in Washington and New York mentioned or discussed these events. After sentencing, P disappeared off the news radar and returned to his private life. In 1974, D published a book entitled KGB, the Secret Work of Soviet Agents (KGB), written by respondent John Barron (D). The book named P among Soviet agents identified in the United States. The index to KGB lists P as follows: 'Wolston, Ilya, Soviet agent in U.S.' P sued Ds for defamation. The court held that P was a 'public figure' and that the First Amendment therefore precluded recovery unless P proved that Ds had published a defamatory falsehood with ''actual malice' -- that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.' The court ruled that the evidence raised no genuine issue with respect to the existence of 'actual malice' on the part of Ds. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed. P appealed.

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