Privacy Law Commons^™

Disinformation And The Defamation Renaissance: A Misleading Promise Of “Truth”, Lili Levi

University of Richmond Law Review

Today, defamation litigation is experiencing a renaissance, with progressives and conservatives, public officials and celebrities, corporations and high school students all heading to the courthouse to use libel lawsuits as a social and political fix. Many of these suits reflect a powerful new rhetoric—reframing the goal of defamation law as fighting disinformation. Appeals to the need to combat falsity in public discourse have fueled efforts to reverse the Supreme Court’s press–protective constitutional limits on defamation law under the New York Times v. Sullivan framework. The anti–disinformation frame could tip the scales and generate a majority on the Court to dismantle …

Drones And Data: A Limited Impact On Privacy, David Sella-Villa

University of Richmond Law Review

Concerns about drones and their impact on privacy are misplaced. Most of the scenarios discussed in the academic literature and policy commentary simply assume that drones operate in a unique way. These discussions of drones and privacy have left the antecedent question unexamined—precisely how do drones impact privacy? This Article is the first to clearly define the operational parameters of drones that impact privacy in a unique way. From this precise definition, we learn that drones operate in very few spaces that allow them to capture data inaccessible to other technologies. In short, how drones operate has a limited impact …

Katz V. United States: Back To The Future?, Michael Vitiello

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

"I Want My File": Surveillance Data, Minimization, And Historical Accountability, Douglas Cox

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Enhancing Cybersecurity In The Private Sector By Means Of Civil Liability Lawsuits - The Connie Francis Effect, Jeffrey F. Addicott

University of Richmond Law Review

The purpose of this article is to explore the threats posed by

cybersecurity breaches, outline the steps taken by the government

to address those threats in the private sector economy, and

call attention to the ultimate solution, which will most certainly

spur private businesses to create a more secure cyber environment

for the American people-a Connie Francis-styled cyber civil

action lawsuit.

Health Care Law, Peter M. Mellette, Emily W. G. Towey, J. Vaden Hunt

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Technology Law, J. Douglas Cuthbertson, Glen L. Gross

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ride-Alongs, Paparazzi, And Other Media Threats To Privacy, Robert M. O'Neil

University of Richmond Law Review

When the Supreme Court first addressed the status of "ride- alongs" in late May of this year, the role of the news media could have been treated in any of several ways. The law enforcement officers, who were sued for invasion of privacy because they invited reporters to accompany them while serving an arrest warrant in a private home, offered several extenuations. The presence of journalists, they argued, would provide direct information to the general public about important news events. Moreover, reporters who took part in the arrest could, in a sense, keep the police honest, or at least make …

Qualified Intimacy, Celebrity, And The Case For A Newsgathering Privilege, Rodney A. Smolla

University of Richmond Law Review

In this symposium issue Robert Nagel, Diane Zimmerman, Robert O'Neil, and Erwin Chemerinsky explore the intersection of privacy and freedom of the press. In his fascinating inquiry into privacy and celebrity in modern American life, Robert Nagel demonstrates the connection between the American public's strong commitment to privacy and its simultaneous passion for robust protection of freedom of speech. Among his most important insights is the exposure of "pseudo-intimacy" as a principal currency of contemporary celebrity status. Diane Zimmerman, Robert O'Neil, and Erwin Chemerinsky all investigate the legal principles that ought to surround aggressive and surreptitious newsgathering techniques, each in …

Privacy And Celebrity: An Essay On The Nationalization Of Intimacy, Robert F. Nagel

University of Richmond Law Review

I start from the rather obvious proposition that in recent years the American public has placed a high value on the right of privacy. This general commitment to privacy was what kept Robert Bork, despite his qualifications, off the Supreme Court, and more recently it was what kept William Clinton, despite his behavior, in the White House. Bork's nomination was a threat to the constitutional right to use contraceptives and to choose abortion, while the impeachment charges against Clinton were a threat to the moral distinction between public political life and private sexual behavior. The power that the idea of …

Discovery And The Privacy Act: Exemption (B)(11) To The Conditions Of Disclosure: What Qualifies As An "Order Of The Court"?, John W. Williams

University of Richmond Law Review

On December 31, 1974, President Gerald Ford signed the landmark Privacy Act of 1974 into law. One of the key concepts of the Act is the principle of disclosure limitation, which limits the ability of the federal government to disclose the contents of per- sonal records in its possession. In the words of the Senate Governmental Operations Committee, this principle "is designed to pre- vent.., the wrongful disclosure and use of personal files held by Federal agencies."

Interference With Privacy - In What Forms Might It Be Actionable In Virginia?, Robert F. Brooks, Robert M. Rolfe

University of Richmond Law Review

Much has been written about the right of privacy since the 1890 law review article by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis which first proposed that such a right be recognized. In the ensuing years the tort of invasion of privacy, which is, in reality, an amalgam of four separate torts, has been widely accepted. In spite of the burgeoning recognition of various rights assembled under the rubric of right to privacy, the Supreme Court of Virginia has never decided whether private citizens are entitled to protection of their personal privacy against invasions by other private citizens. It is the intent …

Confidential Communication Privileges Under Federal And Virginia Law, Roger L. Williams

University of Richmond Law Review

This Comment focuses on the confidential communication privileges recognized under federal and Virginia law. The history of rule 501 of the Federal Rules of Evidence is discussed in order to illustrate the policies which Congress intended to further by enacting it and to shed some light on how Congress intended the rule to operate. Discussion includes an examination of various trends or approaches which recent federal decisions have taken in applying rule 501. Finally, specific privileges which have been recognized by federal courts and specific privileges recognized under Virginia law are enumerated.

Privacy Revisited: The Downfall Of Griswald, Martin R. Levy, C. Thomas Hectus

University of Richmond Law Review

This article presents a review of the Supreme Court's privacy decisions since Griswold v. Connecticut, and concentrates on Doe v. Commonwealth's Attorney for City of Richmond as a vehicle to review the Burger Court's trends in the privacy area. Doe is a good vehicle because, though decided without opinion, the summary affirmance of a lower court decision denying homosexuals constitutional protection resolved the tension developing between Douglas' penumbra theory of privacy, which was the opinion of the Court in Griswold, and the more modern substantive due process analysis. The authors conclude that the opinions in Griswold are dead as far …

Sexual Privacy: Access Of A Minor To Contraceptives, Abortion, And Sterilization Without Parental Consent, Karen Henenberg

University of Richmond Law Review

Until recently, a minor's access to ordinary medical treatment and to such services as contraception, abortion, and sterilization has been severely limited by the legal prerequisite of parental consent. While purporting to act in the minor's best interest, the law has hindered making such medical care available to minors who need and desire it. However, the law has been changing; relying on privacy rights as protected by the Constitution, courts and legislatures have granted independent access-in a selective and piecemeal fashion-to medical services concerning reproductive capacity and sexual activity.

Nlrb Investigatory Records: Disclosure Under The Freedom Of Information Act, Louis A. Fuselier, Armin J. Moeller Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

A fundamental maxim of American political philosophy is the right of each citizen to know what his government is doing. Political leaders have repeatedly assured the American people that government activities are consistent with the ideals of a free and open society. Whatever confidence the American people may have bestowed upon their government as a result of such pronouncements, it was shattered by the revelations of Watergate, and other allegations of illegal activities attributed to several government agencies. Concurrent with these debilitating developments was the less visible bureaucratic obstruction of the Freedom of Information Act of 1966 (FOIA).

Hands Off!! The Validity Of Local Massage Parlor Laws

University of Richmond Law Review

Massage parlors are not a recent American phenomenon. They were a pervasive and, to many, a troublesome phenomenon during the "winning of the West."' In 1897, the Supreme Court determined that one advertisement by women inviting men to their "Baths" and "Massage" rooms was too obscene to be printed. In recent years there has been a sudden increase of interest in and concern about massage parlors. This note examines the most prevalent legal problems generated by the regulation of massage parlors: the relationship between the police power and massage parlor establishments, the constitutional concerns of equal protection and substantive due …

The Family Educational Rights And Privacy Act Two Years Later, Katherine Cudlipp

University of Richmond Law Review

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the so called Buckley Amendment, grants parents the right to inspect all records that schools maintain on their children and to challenge any contents they believe are inaccurate or misleading. The Act also requires that parents consent before information from school records is released to those outside specified educational categories. Once a student reaches eighteen years of age or enters a postsecondary educational institution, he assumes these rights in his parents' stead. The penalty for failure of an educational system or institution to comply with the law is loss of all …

Open Meetings In Virginia: Fortifying The Virginia Freedom Of Information Act

University of Richmond Law Review

The past two decades have evidenced a growing criticism and intolerance of "closed sessions" or "secret meetings" in the operation of government. As a result of this increased disapproval, most states enacted some form of "open meeting" legislation designed to give the public a legal right to attend meetings of state and local governing bodies. The purpose of these statutes has been to maintain the faith of the public in governmental agencies by allowing citizen attendance and participation in all phases of the decision making process. Citizens must be able to go behind the decisions of government and hear discussion …

Right To Privacy- Direct Injury Must Be Shown Before A Court May Grant Relief From General Governmental Surveillance

University of Richmond Law Review

The right of privacy is an aggregate of many separate rights, each of which is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Although the right of privacy was not recognized per se at common law, today it is acknowledged by a majority of jurisdictions as a separate actionable legal right.

The Physician-Patient Privilege In Virginia, James W. Payne Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

It seems settled that at common law there was no privilege whereby either a patient or a physician could suppress evidence of communications made by one to the other. Most commentators have argued that there is no justification for such a privilege.