Summary of the case
A senator of Wisconsin named William Proxmire invented a monthly award in which he publi-cized what he saw as examples of the government wasting money. In 1975 he gave several awards, one which included the government spending almost a ½ million dollars on funding a professor named Ronald Hutchinson. The professor was researching emotional behavior, as in attempting to develop an objective measure of aggression. In Proxmire’s speech about Hutchinson, he described the research as if it was for monkeys. Hutchinson sued Proxmire, say-ing his professional reputation had been damaged.

Arguments for Hutchinson
As Professor Hutchinson felt his reputation has been damaged, he sued Proxmire with the fol-lowing three arguments: The Speech and Debate Clause should not extend to protection of com-ments made outside the Senate; the monthly awards given by Proxmire were aimed at people outside congress, making them not part of his official duties; lastly, as Prof. Hutchinson is not a public figure, he does not have to prove that the intentions behind the award were to harm.