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in this issue
A View from the Inside: Why Can’t We Be Friends?
A Few Thoughts on Amicus Briefs, Amicus Pitches, and Why We Sometimes Say No By David McCraw Twenty years ago, when I was a clerk at the New York State Court of Appeals, the court found itself faced with a high-profile case about state funding for abortions. The amicus briefs came pouring in. Most of…
Settlement of Cameraman’s Civil Rights Suit Protects the Public’s Right to Film Police Activity
By Alison Schary & Robert Balin For local videographer Philip Datz, July 29, 2011, was proceeding like any other day on the job. A credentialed freelance photojournalist and a longtime fixture of the local newsgathering scene in Long Island, New York, Mr. Datz is often one of the first to arrive at the scene of…
TOPICS : Newsgathering
Supreme Court Solidifies Privacy Protections for Cellphone Data
Holding Warrantless Searches Incident to Arrest Unconstitutional By Ronald G. London and Robert Corn-Revere At the end of this year’s term, the U.S. Supreme Court took a major step forward in unanimously extending individual protections from police intrusion into the realm of digital privacy. In a consolidated decision in Riley v. California and United States…
TOPICS : Privacy
Presidential Privacy, CIA Records and Other Access Cases of Note
Former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have a privacy interest in their personal-research requests for archived Administration materials that outweighs the public interest in disclosure, the Second Circuit has ruled. Cook v. National Archives & Records Admin., No. 13-1228-cv (2d Cir. July 8, 2014) (Leval, Pooler, Chin, JJ.) Background Reporter John…
TOPICS : Access / FOIA
Federal FOIA Reform Bill to Narrow Deliberative Process Privilege Introduced
Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate to curb the alleged abuse of the exemption to the Freedom of Information Act for documents that are exempt from discovery in civil and criminal litigation. Freedom-of-information advocates have called the 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5) exemption the “withhold it because you want to” exemption. Senator Patrick…
TOPICS : Access / FOIA
Google Spain: A Judgment Which Deserves To Be Forgotten
Right to Be Forgotten Judgment Not Working in Practice By Anya Proops There is no question but that in our modern networked age, the internet has become central to the shaping of our personal identities and biographies. Nowadays if you want to build a picture of a particular individual, you will invariably start with what…
TOPICS : Digital Privacy
Legal Databases’ Use of Publicly Filed Briefs Is Fair, District Court Rules
Transformative Nature of Use Weighs Heavily in Decision A New York federal court held that the republication of legal briefs by legal database producers West Publishing (“West”) and Reed Elsevier, Inc. (“Lexis”) is fair use. White v. West Publishing, 12 Civ. 1340 (S.D.N.Y. July 3, 2014) (Rakoff, J.). The court applied Section 107 of the…
TOPICS : Copyright
New York Court Protects Identity of Pseudonymous Corporate Critic
Article Was Expression of Opinion; Anonymous Online Speech Merits Constitutional Scrutiny of Disclosure Demands By Terence P. Keegan On June 26, 2014, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County denied a public company’s pre-suit petition to force a financial news website to disclose the identity of a pseudonymous critic. In…
Vetting Stories About Interviews With Alleged Victims and Witnesses
By Charles D. Tobin and Adrianna C. Rodriguez Interviews with crime victims and witnesses often provide our clients with the richest, most memorable journalism. Their painful and sometimes graphic stories humanize what could otherwise be formulaic recitations of charges and court procedure. When told well, these stories can encourage other victims to come forward, move…
Florida Court Claims Public Interest in Resolving Defamation Action Between New York Residents
Defendant’s Defamatory Statement Was Posted on a Blog By Robert L. Rogers, III In a curious opinion omitting consideration of several key facts, an intermediate appellate court in Florida affirmed an order denying a motion to dismiss a defamation action for forum non conveniens on grounds that could prove troublesome for defendants sued for defamatory…
TOPICS : Defamation
Sixth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Dismissing Law School’s Libel Claim
School Sued Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Critical of School’s Placement Data Thomas M. Cooley Law School was unable to surmount the high hurdle of actual malice to pursue a $17 million defamation lawsuit over negative online comments made by plaintiffs’ lawyers researching a lawsuit over post-graduate law school employment data. Thomas M. Cooley Law School v. Kurzon…
TOPICS : Fault
Utah Appeals Court Revives Privacy Case Over “Before and After” Surgery Photos
Questions of Fact Keep Non-Media Case Alive The Utah Court of Appeals reversed a trial court decision granting summary judgment to a cosmetic surgeon who was sued for false light, publication of private facts, intrusion upon seclusion, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligent employment and supervision for sharing before and after pictures of the plaintiff…
Illinois State Court Strikes Sex Tape Lawsuit Under California Anti-SLAPP Statute
Former Movie Star Could Not Prove Ebony Magazine Acted With Actual Malice By Steven P. Mandell, Steven L. Baron, Brendan J. Healey and Catherine L. Gibbons Leon Isaac Kennedy, or “Leon the Lover” as he was called during his days as a radio DJ, sued Johnson Publishing Company (the publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines)…
TOPICS : Anti-SLAPP, Fault
10th Circuit Reinstates Defamation Claims Over Dateline Hidden Camera Report
Plaintiff Stated a Claim for Defamation; Court Affirms Dismissal of § 1983 Claims The Tenth Circuit this month reinstated a defamation claim against NBC Universal based on a Dateline investigation of predatory annuity sales to seniors. Broker’s Choice of America, Inc. v. NBC Universal, Inc., No. 11-1042 (10th Cir. July 9, 2014) (Briscoe, McKay, O’Brien,…
George Zimmerman’s Defamation Lawsuit Against NBC Dismissed
Court Grants NBC Summary Judgment; Zimmerman a Public Figure; NBC Did Not Materially Alter His Comments By Matthew E. Kelley George Zimmerman is a public figure and cannot prove with the requisite clear and convincing evidence that NBC acted with actual malice in broadcasting news reports containing excerpts from his call to police shortly before…
TOPICS : Fault
MediaLawLetter July 2014
Download Publication LIBEL AND PRIVACY Fla. Cir.: George Zimmerman’s Defamation Lawsuit Against NBC DismissedZimmerman a Public Figure; NBC Did Not Materially Alter His CommentsZimmerman v. NBCUniversal Media 10th Cir.: Circuit Reinstates Defamation Claims Over Dateline Hidden Camera ReportPlaintiff Stated a Claim for Defamation; Court Affirms Dismissal of § 1983 ClaimsBroker’s Choice of America, Inc. v….