Time, Inc. v. Hill
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Time, Inc. v. Hill'', 385 U.S. 374 (1967), is a United States Supreme Court case involving issues of
privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...
in balance with the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the ...
and principles of
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
. The Court held 6–3 that the latter requires that merely negligent intrusions into the former by the media not be civilly actionable. It expanded that principle from its landmark
defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
holding in '' New York Times v. Sullivan''. The Hill family had sued after ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' implied in a blurb that the upcoming film adaptation of '' The Desperate Hours'' was based on the real-life incident where they were held hostage in their home by escaped convicts. It was accompanied by a photo of the Hills' house in a suburb of Philadelphia, from which they had moved shortly afterwards due to the lingering psychological effects of the episode. In fact, the plot of the novel and a successful play based on it were, while inspired by the Hills' experience, unrelated to it. Former
Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Richard M. Nixon argued the Hills' case before the Court.


Background

James Hill and his wife lived in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, with their five children in 1952, when they were taken hostage in their own house by three escaped convicts. During the ordeal, the family members were treated with dignity by the hostage-takers. The family members were held hostage for 19 hours. The three criminals were apprehended after leaving the Hills' home, and the incident received significant media attention. Mrs. Hill did not appreciate the media focus, and the family relocated to
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
in order to seek out a lifestyle out of the limelight. Joseph Hayes wrote a novel published in 1953 called '' The Desperate Hours'', which was influenced by the Hill family's ordeal. The novel by Hayes went on to become a bestseller. In 1954, the
Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...
production of the play '' The Desperate Hours'' debuted, which depicted a hostage incident similar to that experienced by the Hill family. However, in ''The Desperate Hours'', the scenario was changed from the Hills' actual experiences, to a fictional portrayal of a family victimized by threats of sexual abuse and other violent acts. The
setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...
for the play was
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...
. ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' magazine published an article on the debut of ''The Desperate Hours'' on Broadway, and included pictures of the actors in the prior residence of the Hills in the Whitemarsh suburb of
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, Pennsylvania. In the article, ''The Desperate Hours'' was characterized as a "reenactment" of the ordeal experienced by the Hill family. The ''Life'' magazine piece wrote that the photographed actors from the play were pictured in "the actual house where the Hills were besieged". Mrs. Hill experienced a
mental breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
after the piece was published, and James Hill stated he was unable to comprehend why the magazine did not fact check the article through communication with the family.


Prior litigation

James Hill filed suit in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
against the magazine's publisher,
Time, Inc. Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...
The suit asserted ''Life'' had violated
privacy law Privacy law is the body of law that deals with the regulating, storing, and using of personally identifiable information, personal healthcare information, and financial information of individuals, which can be Personally identifiable information ...
in the state, by conflating the Hill family with fictional events which had not actually occurred. The legal argument drew upon the notion of
false light In US law, false light is a tort concerning privacy that is similar to the tort of defamation. The privacy laws in the United States include a non-public person's right to protection from publicity that creates an untrue or misleading impre ...
as related to privacy law. After an initial ruling against ''Life'' magazine, the
New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division The Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court of the State of New York are the intermediate appellate courts in New York State. There are four Appellate Divisions, one in each of the state's four Judicial Departments (e.g., the full title of the ...
remanded the case for a new trial. After litigation through the court system in New York, a decision was found in favor of the
plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the p ...
, with damages awarded of
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
30,000.


Supreme Court


Argument

Time, Inc. appealed the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the Hill family position was argued by former Vice President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
, who was elected president two years later. The position of ''Life'' magazine was argued before the Court by attorney Harold Medina Jr., son of U.S. federal judge
Harold Medina Harold Raymond Medina (February 16, 1888 – March 14, 1990) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for ...
. In his opening argument, he asserted that the privacy law in question in New York was unconstitutional, due to its broadness and for punitively impacting the press for publishing factual information. As a secondary argument, Medina put forth the notion that the prior ruling in the case was inappropriate because the jury was allowed to determine liability of ''Life'' based on the inaccuracy of the article, while neglecting to take into account whether or not the act by the magazine was reckless or willful. He put forth the potential for a lawsuit against the press for a simple unintentional error, "It comes down to if you treat it on a mistake basis, on truth or falsity, what has happened to the law of libel? You don't need the law of libel any more and the safeguards. It is much easier to sue for violation of your right of privacy. But all the defenses that have been set up in the libel law disappear." Regarding his preparation for the case, Nixon remarked to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' journalist Fred Graham, "I locked myself up in my office for two weeks. No phone calls. No interruptions. It takes a tremendous amount of concentration." Graham later wrote of Nixon's argumentation, "Whatever the peculiarities of Nixon's preparation, his performance before the Court proved sound and workman-like, well within the bounds of effective oral advocacy." Nixon argued that a fictional account is not newsworthy, and therefore
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
is not impacted by the privacy law. His essential premise put forth the notion that the "fictionalization" aspect of privacy law did not harm
freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
.


Unpublished draft opinion

In his 1985 book ''The Unpublished Opinions of the Warren Court'', author Bernard Schwartz revealed that an initial conference had resulted in votes of 6 to 3 to affirm the judgment in favor of the Hill family. Justice
Abe Fortas Abraham Fortas (June 19, 1910 – April 5, 1982) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1965 to 1969. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Fortas graduated from R ...
wrote a draft opinion, but it was not published by the Court. After the 1985 publication of Schwartz's book revealed the initial draft opinion of the Court in the case, former President Richard Nixon requested his prior
White House Counsel The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...
Leonard Garment Leonard Garment (May 11, 1924 – July 13, 2013) was an American attorney, public servant, and arts advocate. He served U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the White House in various positions from 1969 to 1976, including Counselor ...
to investigate the matter. Garment had previously worked with Nixon as his legal partner, and assisted him during the ''Time, Inc. v. Hill'' case. Garment contributed an article to ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' which reported on the research undertaken by Nixon before each of the arguments in the case. He recounted Nixon's response after hearing of the verdict of the Court, "I always knew I wouldn't be permitted to win a big appeal against the press." Garment emphasized a comment from the dissent opinion written by Justice Harlan, which warned undesired media attention imparted "severe risk of irremediable harm ... oindividuals exposed to it and powerless to protect themselves against it." Following the first argument before the Court, justices changed their opinions about the matter, and Justice
Hugo Black Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971. A ...
wrote in a memo to his fellow justices, "After mature reflection, I am unable to recall any prior case in this Court that offers a greater threat to freedom of speech and press than this one does." Justice Black emphasized that though the media makes mistakes at times in its reporting, requiring press organizations to pay out for claims which were not libel related to inaccuracies which did not hurt individuals' reputation, would engender a situation of
self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse. This is done out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities or preferences (actual or perceived) of others and without overt pressure from any specific party or insti ...
. A subsequent argument was ordered, and the majority opinion shifted since the initial draft opinion.


Reargument

A second argument before the Court took place in October 1966. Medina requested the Court declare the privacy law in question unconstitutional, because, " this field of privacy, I merely suggest that when it is nondefamatory and when you are talking about a public fact, we should have the protection that the fellow who comes in to sue us must prove both falsity and knowledge of falsity, or recklessness, and that this is a minimum, because, mind you, this article here, the dissent in the appellate division, found it was an informative presentation of legitimate news." In his reply to Medina's argumentation, Nixon stated, "It is our contention that in this case it was argued by the plaintiff, it was established by the evidence, it was charged by the court, it was found by the jury, and it was held by the courts of New York in their appeals courts, that ''Life'' magazine lied, and that ''Life'' magazine knew that it lied. That is the proposition that I content for here." However, the trial judge in the initial case did not provide the jury with an instruction that it had to provide an opinion of recklessness or willful inaccuracy on the part of ''Life'' magazine in order to yield a decision in favor of the plaintiff. Medina concluded the reargument period by emphasizing his view that in case it was determined by the Court that evidence showed the ''Life'' magazine staff was aware of the inaccuracy of the article in question, this lack of jury instruction was crucial. Medina said that due to this failure to inform the jury of a requirement to find willful inaccuracy on the part of ''Life'' magazine, "I still think I am entitled to win."


Decision

In January 1967, the Court determined in a 5–4 decision in favor of Time, Inc. Justice
William J. Brennan, Jr. William Joseph "Bill" Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 – July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990. He was the List of United States Supreme Cou ...
wrote the opinion of the Court. Justice Brennan had previously written the majority opinion in the case of ''
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan ''New York Times Co. v. Sullivan'', 376 U.S. 254 (1964), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution's freedom of speech protections limit the ability of American public officials to sue for ...
'' in 1964; that case ruled individual officials who were publicly known were not able to obtain claims for inaccurate media coverage except in the case of reckless or willful reporting of said inaccuracies. In this case, Justice Brennan utilized a similar test to the matter at hand. He permitted that ''Life'' could have a fresh trial where it could be determined whether or not the magazine's reporting was reckless or willfully inaccurate. Justice Brennan wrote about the balance between freedom of speech and exposure to public view:
The guarantees for speech and press are not the preserve of political expression or comment upon public affairs, essential as those are to healthy government. One need only pick up any newspaper or magazine to comprehend the vast range of published matter which exposes persons to public view, both private citizens and public officials. Exposure of the self to others in varying degrees is a concomitant of life in a civilized community. The risk of this exposure is an essential incident of life in a society which places a primary value on freedom of speech and press.
The majority opinion held that states cannot judge in favor of plaintiffs "to redress false reports of matters of public interest in the absence of proof that the defendant published the report with knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregard of the truth". This decision had the impact of elaborating on the "actual malice" standard of the Court's prior holding in ''
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan ''New York Times Co. v. Sullivan'', 376 U.S. 254 (1964), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution's freedom of speech protections limit the ability of American public officials to sue for ...
'', to also include cases involving false light. Although the Court reversed a judgment for compensatory damages, it recognized a clear right not to be spoken about. A dissent written by Justice Fortas was joined by Justice
Tom C. Clark Thomas Campbell Clark (September 23, 1899June 13, 1977) was an American lawyer who served as the 59th United States Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 and as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1949 to 1967. Clark ...
as well as Chief Justice
Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presided over a major shift in American constitution ...
. In addition to Justice Fortas, Justice
John Marshall Harlan II John Marshall Harlan (May 20, 1899 – December 29, 1971) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. Harlan is usually called John Marshall Harlan II to distinguish him ...
wrote another dissent. Justice Harlan observed that as Hill was not a public individual, he was unable to obtain significant viewership for a potential response. He pointed out that this created a problem of "unchallengable untruth", and stated a necessity would have been to request Hill prove negligence on the part of ''Life'' magazine's editorship in their falsehoods, as opposed to the more stringent test of proving that the inaccuracy was actually reckless or willful.


Analysis

In his book '' Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment'', author
Anthony Lewis Anthony Lewis (March 27, 1927 – March 25, 2013) was an American public intellectual and journalist. He was twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and was a columnist for ''The New York Times''. He is credited with creating the field of legal jour ...
examined the case, and noted, "Using someone's likeness without permission has developed as one of the four branches of privacy law. A second is false light privacy, exemplified by the ''Hill'' case: putting someone in a false light by, for example, fictionalizing a story about him or her." Authors Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky and R. George Wright write in their book ''Freedom of the Press: A Reference Guide to the United States Constitution'', "... the Supreme Court requires proof of falsity and fault in all defamation cases involving matters of public concern, although the requisite fault depends on the status of the plaintiff. If plaintiffs were able to avoid these requirements simply by choosing to sue for false light rather than defamation, it would encourage an 'end run' around the First Amendment. The United States Supreme Court foresaw and partially prevented this problem in its first false light case, Time, Inc. v. Hill." Regarding the rationale of the decision by the Supreme Court in the case, the authors noted, "The Court's reasoning was parallel to the reasoning being developed in defamation cases: Errors are inevitable in free debate on matters of public interest, and the press must have breathing space to protect it from liability for such 'inevitable' errors." Writing as a contributor to ''A Good Quarrel: America's Top Legal Reporters Share Stories from Inside the Supreme Court'', Fred Graham commented on the positions of Time, Inc. in its argumentation before the Court. Graham noted, "Underlying both defenses was the argument that if this judgment was not unconstitutional, then persons who feel they have been defamed can perform an end run around the defenses established in ''New York Times v. Sullivan'' by suing for a violation of privacy."


See also

*
Alien and Sedition Acts The Alien and Sedition Acts were a set of four laws enacted in 1798 that applied restrictions to immigration and speech in the United States. The Naturalization Act increased the requirements to seek citizenship, the Alien Friends Act allowed th ...
*
Civil liberties in the United States Civil liberties in the United States are certain unalienable rights retained by (as opposed to privileges granted to) citizens of the United States under the Constitution of the United States, as interpreted and clarified by the Supreme Court of t ...
*
Censorship in the United States Censorship in the United States involves the suppression of speech or public communication and raises issues of freedom of speech, which is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Interpretation of this fundamental ...
*
Freedom of speech in the United States In the United States, freedom of speech and expression is strongly protected from government restrictions by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, many state constitutions, and state and federal laws. Freedom of speech, also ca ...
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Warren Court This is a partial chronological list of cases decided by the United States Supreme Court during the Warren Court, the tenure of Chief Justice Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, ...
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 385 This is a list of all the United States Supreme Court cases from volume 385 of the ''United States Reports The ''United States Reports'' () are the official record ( law reports) of the Supreme Court of the United States. They include rulings, ...
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment This is a list of cases that appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States involving the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The establishment of religion Blue laws * '' McGowan v. Maryland'' (1961) * '' Braunfeld v. ...
*
Media transparency Media transparency (or transparent media), also referred to as Media Opacity, is a concept that explores how and why information subsidies are being produced, distributed and handled by media professionals, including journalists, editors, public r ...
*''
Westmoreland v. CBS ''Westmoreland v. CBS'' was a $120 million libel suit brought in 1982 by former U.S. Army Chief of Staff General William Westmoreland against CBS, Inc. for broadcasting on its program ''CBS Reports'' a documentary entitled ''The Uncounted Enemy ...
'' (S.D.N.Y. 1982) *'' Tory v. Cochran''


Notes


References

* * * * *


Further reading

* ''Newsworthy: The Supreme Court Battle Over Privacy and Press Freedom'' by Samantha Barbas, 2017, Stanford University Press


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Time, Inc. V. Hill United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court United States Free Speech Clause case law 1967 in United States case law Life (magazine)