Privacy Law Commons^™

Do Sexting Prosecutions Violate Teenagers' Constitutional Rights?, Joanne Sweeny

JoAnne Sweeny

The media has recently been highlighting a rash of prosecutions of teenagers who engage in "sexting"--sending nude or sexually explicit images of themselves or their peers--under child pornography laws. These prosecutions have led to mass criticism for threatening teens with long prison terms and registration as sex offenders for activities that are perceived to be relatively innocent. Many, if not most, of these sexting teens are legally permitted to engage in sexual activities through their states' statutory rape laws, which leads to an absurd situation in which teens are permitted to engage in sex but not photograph it. This mismatch …

When Privacy Almost Won: Time, Inc. V. Hill (1967), Samantha Barbas

Samantha Barbas

Drawing on previously unexplored and unpublished archival papers of Richard Nixon, the plaintiffs’ lawyer in the case, and the justices of the Warren Court, this article tells the story of the seminal First Amendment case Time, Inc. v. Hill (1967). In Hill, the Supreme Court for the first time addressed the conflict between the right to privacy and freedom of the press. The Court constitutionalized tort liability for invasion of privacy, acknowledging that it raised First Amendment issues and must be governed by constitutional standards. Hill substantially diminished privacy rights; today it is difficult if not impossible to recover against …

The Sidis Case And The Origins Of Modern Privacy Law, Samantha Barbas

Samantha Barbas

The American press, it’s been said, is freer to invade personal privacy than perhaps any other in the world. The tort law of privacy, as a shield against unwanted media exposure of private life, is very weak. The usual reason given for the weakness of U.S. privacy law as a bar on the publication of private information is the strong tradition of First Amendment freedom. But “freedom of the press” alone cannot explain why liberty to publish has been interpreted as a right to print truly intimate matters or to thrust people into the spotlight against their will. Especially in …

Second Class For The Second Time: How The Commercial Speech Doctrine Stigmatizes Commercial Use Of Aggregated Public Records, Brian N. Larson, Genelle I. Belmas

Brian Larson

This Article argues that access to aggregated electronic public records for commercial use should receive protection under the First Amendment in the same measure as the speech acts the access supports. In other words, we view commercial access to aggregated public records as an essential means to valuable speech. For many, however, the taint of the commercial speech doctrine is turning all “information flows” into commercial ones. This, in turn, is threatening the access to government records.

Testimony On Unmanned Aircraft Systems Rules And Regulations, Stephen E. Henderson

Stephen E Henderson

If You Fly A Drone, So Can Police, Stephen E. Henderson

Stephen E Henderson

The Right To Be Forgotten V. Free Speech (Symposium) (Forthcoming), Edward Lee

Edward Lee

No abstract provided.

Copyrights, Privacy, And The Blockchain, Tom W. Bell

Tom W. Bell

The First Amendment And The Rpas, Caren M. Morrison

Caren Myers Morrison

No abstract provided.

The Constitution And Informational Privacy, Or How So-Called Conservatives Countenance Governmental Intrustion Into A Person's Private Affairs, 18 J. Marshall L. Rev. 871 (1985), Michael P. Seng

Michael P. Seng

No abstract provided.

Regulating Drones Under The First And Fourth Amendments, Stephen E. Henderson, Joseph Thai, Marc Jonathan Blitz, James Grimsley

Stephen E Henderson

The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 requires the Federal Aviation Administration to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, into the national airspace system by September of this year. Yet perhaps because of their chilling accuracy in targeted killings abroad, perhaps because of an increasing consciousness of diminishing privacy more generally, and perhaps simply because of a fear of the unknown, divergent UAV-restrictive legislation has been proposed in Congress and enacted in a number of states. Ultimately, given UAV utility and cost effectiveness over a vast range of tasks, widespread commercial use seems certain. So it is imperative …

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Free Speech? Visions Of The Future Of Copyright, Privacy And The First Amendment In Science Fiction, Daxton R. Stewart

Daxton "Chip" Stewart

Science fiction authors have long projected the future of technology, including communication devices and the way in which future societies may use them. In this essay, these visions of future technology, and their implications on the future of media law and policy, are explored in three areas in particular – copyright, privacy, and the First Amendment. Themes examined include moving toward massively open copyright systems, problems of perpetual surveillance by the state, addressing rights of obscurity in public places threatened by wearable and implantable computing devices, and considering free speech rights of autonomous machines created by humans. In conclusion, the …

Surveillance, Speech Suppression And Degradation Of The Rule Of Law In The “Post-Democracy Electronic State”, David Barnhizer

David Barnhizer

None of us can claim the quality of original insight achieved by Alexis de Tocqueville in his early 19th Century classic Democracy in America in his observation that the “soft” repression of democracy was unlike that in any other political form. It is impossible to deny that we in the US, the United Kingdom and Western Europe are experiencing just such a “gentle” drift of the kind that Tocqueville describes, losing our democratic integrity amid an increasingly “pretend” democracy. He explained: “[T]he supreme power [of government] then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society …

Revisiting The American Action For Public Disclosure Of Facts, Brian C. Murchison

Brian C. Murchison

None available.

William H. Sorrell, Attorney General Of Vermont, Et Al. V. Ims Health Inc., Et Al. - Amicus Brief In Support Of Petitioners, Kevin Outterson, David Orentlicher, Christopher Robertson, Frank Pasquale

Frank A. Pasquale

On April 26, 2011, the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Vermont data mining case, Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc. Respondents claim this is the most important commercial speech case in a decade. Petitioner (the State of Vermont) argues this is the most important medical privacy case since Whalen v. Roe. The is an amicus brief supporting Vermont, written by law professors and submitted on behalf of the New England Journal of Medicine

Fired For Blogging: Are There Legal Protections For Employees Who Blog?, Robert Sprague

Robert Sprague

No abstract provided.

Internet Privacy And Self-Regulation: Lessons From The Porn Wars, Tom Bell

Tom W. Bell

The availability and adequacy of technical remedies ought to play a crucial role in evaluating the propriety of state action with regard to both the inhibition of Internet pornography and the promotion of Internet privacy. Legislation that would have restricted Internet speech considered indecent or harmful to minors has already faced and failed that test. Several prominent organizations dedicated to preserving civiI Iiberties argued successfully that self -help technologies offered less-restrictive means of achieving the purported ends of such legislation, rendering it unconstitutional. Surprisingly, those same organizations have of late joined the call for subjecting another kind of speech—speech by …