Editing Jerry Falwell (section)

==Legal issues==
Beginning in the 1970s, Falwell was involved in legal matters that occupied much of his time and increased his name recognition.

===SEC and bonds===
In 1972, the [[US Securities and Exchange Commission]] (SEC) launched an investigation of [[bond (finance)|bonds]] issued by Falwell's organizations. The SEC charged Falwell's church with "fraud and deceit" in the issuance of $6.5 million in unsecured church bonds.<ref name="npr-potent">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5522064|title=Religion, Politics a Potent Mix for Jerry Falwell|website=NPR.org|publisher=NPR|access-date=2010-11-07|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204052741/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5522064|archive-date=2011-02-04}}</ref> The church won a 1973 federal court case prosecuted at the SEC's behest. The court exonerated the church and ruled that while technical violations of law did occur, there was no proof the church intended any wrongdoing.

===Falwell versus ''Penthouse''===
Falwell filed a $10 million lawsuit against ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]'' for publishing an article based on interviews he gave to freelance reporters, after failing to convince a federal court to enjoin the article's publication. The suit was dismissed in federal district court in 1981 on the grounds that the article was not [[defamatory]] or an invasion of Falwell's privacy (the Virginia courts had not recognized this privacy tort, which is recognized in other states).<ref>{{cite news |date=February 5, 1981 |title=Falwell Says He Will Press $10 Million Penthouse Suit |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |page=A10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=August 7, 1981 |title=Penthouse Wins in Court Against Falwell Suit |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=United Press International |page=A8}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=September 10, 1981 |title=Falwell Won't Pursue Suit |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=United Press International |page=A28}}</ref>

===''Hustler Magazine v. Falwell''===
{{Main|Hustler Magazine v. Falwell}}

In 1983, [[Larry Flynt]]'s [[pornographic]] magazine ''[[Hustler (magazine)|Hustler]]'' ran a [[parody advertisement|parody]] of a [[Campari]] ad featuring a mock "interview" with Falwell in which he admits that his "first time" was incest with his mother in an [[outhouse]] while drunk. Falwell sued for $45 million, alleging invasion of privacy, libel, and [[intentional infliction of emotional distress]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Menand |first=Louis |author-link=Louis Menand |date=February 6, 1997 |title=It's a Wonderful Life |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1997/02/06/its-a-wonderful-life/ |url-access=subscription |journal=The New York Review of Books |volume=44 |issue=2}}</ref> A jury rejected the invasion of privacy and libel claims, holding that the parody could not have reasonably been taken to describe true events, but ruled in Falwell's favor on the emotional distress claim and awarded damages of $200,000. This was upheld on appeal. Flynt then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which unanimously held that the [[First Amendment]] prevents public figures from recovering damages for emotional distress caused by parodies.

After Falwell's death, Flynt said of Falwell:

<blockquote>My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-may-20-op-flynt20-story.html|title=The Porn King and the Preacher|last=Flynt|first=Larry|author-link=Larry Flynt|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=May 20, 2007 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921050312/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/may/20/opinion/op-flynt20|archive-date=2010-09-21}}</ref></blockquote>

===Falwell versus Jerry Sloan===
[[File:Jerry Falwell, 1984.jpg|thumb|Falwell in [[Tallahassee, Florida]], in 1984]]

In 1984, Falwell was ordered to pay [[gay rights]] activist and former Baptist Bible College classmate Jerry Sloan $5,000 after losing a court battle. In July 1984 during a televised debate in [[Sacramento, California]], Falwell denied calling the gay-friendly [[Metropolitan Community Church]]es "brute beasts" and "a vile and Satanic system" that will "one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven".<ref name=vile>{{cite web |last=Burns |first=Katy |date=May 17, 2007 |title=Jerry Falwell's Greatest Hates |url=http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070517/REPOSITORY/705170342/1028/OPINION02 |url-status=dead |work=Concord Monitor |location=Concord, New Hampshire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927214159/http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070517/REPOSITORY/705170342/1028/OPINION02 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |access-date=May 18, 2007}}</ref>

When Sloan insisted he had a tape, Falwell promised $5,000 if he could produce it. Sloan did, Falwell refused to pay, and Sloan successfully sued.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960051,00.html |title=Milestones: Oct. 7, 1985 |date=October 7, 1985 |magazine=Time |location=New York |access-date=December 16, 2019 }}</ref> The money was donated to build Sacramento's first LGBT community center, the Lambda Community Center, serving "lesbian, gay, [[bisexual]], [[transgender]], and [[intersex]]" communities.<ref name="intersex">{{cite web|url=http://www.saccenter.org/about.php |title=about Lambda Community Fund |access-date=April 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125043503/http://www.saccenter.org/about.php |archive-date=January 25, 2008 }}</ref> Falwell appealed the decision, with his attorney charging that the Jewish judge in the case was prejudiced. He lost again and was made to pay an additional $2,875 in sanctions and court fees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=unQdAAAAIBAJ&pg=5828,4267772&dq=sloan%20vs%20falwell&hl=en|title=The Pittsburgh Press – Google News Archive Search|access-date=January 21, 2017}}</ref>

=== Trademark infringement lawsuit against Christopher Lamparello ===
{{main|Lamparello v. Falwell}}
In ''Lamparello v. Falwell'', a dispute over the ownership of the Internet domain ''fallwell.com'', the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit]] reversed an earlier District Court decision, arguing that Christopher Lamparello, who owned the domain, "clearly created his website intending only to provide a forum to criticize ideas, not to steal customers."<ref name="websitelawsuit">[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12356113 Supreme Court declines Falwell Web appeal]  Associated Press. April 17, 2006</ref> Lamparello's website described itself as not being connected to Jerry Falwell and is critical of Falwell's views on homosexuality.<ref name="websitelawsuit" /> On April 17, 2006, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Appeals Court's ruling that Lamparello's usage of the domain was legal.

Before that, a different man had turned over ''[[Lamparello v. Falwell#Related case: jerryfalwell.com|jerryfalwell.com]]'' and ''jerryfallwell.com'' after Falwell threatened to sue for [[trademark infringement]].<ref name="websitelawsuit" /> Lawyers for [[Public Citizen Litigation Group]]'s Internet Free Speech project represented the domain name owners in both cases.