Socratics

Socratic Law Issue 5

Mass Communication Law

10/02/06

The public records defense cannot be used as a defense in a private facts case when the court determines that punishing the media would serve a compelling state interest. Nevertheless, the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet found a state interest, even revealing a rape victim’s name, that would allow a plaintiff to win a private facts case. On the other hand, if the information is obtained by illegal methods, then the public records defense is not valid.

Private facts are private information that is not of legitimate public concern and that if publicized would be highly offensive to a reasonable person. If intimate private facts are published, a jury may award monetary damages. Public records are government documents that are publicly available, meaning that they are not private facts.

Court decisions have not held that the First Amendment will always protect publishing truthful information taken from public records. However, the Supreme Court has ruled for the press in each of the cases involving private facts obtained from public records. In Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn, the court said that truthful information lawfully obtained from a public record cannot be the basis of a private facts case. This opens the door for punishing the press if the information is not obtained by lawful methods.

In another case, the CBS program “48 Hours” aired a segment about lottery winners, including charges that one lottery winner had sexually abused his daughter. A federal appellate court rejected a private facts claim brought by the daughter. The court ruled that CBS lawfully obtained the information from a public record. Some government records are not accessible to the public, and may not be used in a private facts lawsuit. For example, grand jury proceedings are not public records.

In summary, the public records defense is not valid in a private facts case when punishing the media would serve a compelling state interest, or when the information has been obtained illegally.