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California Court of Appeal Carves Out "Low Value" Exception to First Amendment (Catsouras v. State of California Highway Patrol)

Catsouras v. State of California Highway Patrol (opinion here; case discussion here), a newly-issued California Court of Appeal Opinion, raises important First Amendment issues.  In Catsouras, two California Highway Patrol officers forwarded crime-scene photos of an 18-year old who died after crashing her father's stolen Porsche into a guide rail.  The surviving family members sued the CHP officers, alleging invasion of privacy.  Siding with the family, the Court of Appeals departed from decades of California caselaw.  Hendrickson v. California Newspapers, Inc. (1975) 48 Cal.App.3d 59 ("It is well settled that the right of privacy is purely a personal one; it cannot be asserted by anyone other than the person whose privacy has been invaded, that is, plaintiff must plead and prove that his privacy has been invaded...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on February 01, 2010 (boomark / email).