Privacy Law Case Study

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MDS4100 Communication Law

Case Study: Privacy

CASE STUDY: PRIVACY

You are a reporter for WKRN-TV, covering local police activity as part of your beat. Your editor

tells you to get over to McGavock High School as quickly as possible. An anonymous caller,

saying she lives across the street from the public school, told a news editor she heard four or

five gunshots coming from the school building as she was outside walking her dog. Within

seconds, she says, students were running outside and screaming. A listen to the police band

receiver in the newsroom indicates something is up at the school.

You take a videographer and arrive on the scene about 1:30 p.m. Five or six Metro police cars

are parked near the school, and an ambulance arrives seconds later as you get out of your car.

The entrance to the school building is blocked off and police are guarding the area, admitting no

one except authorities into the building.

After questioning police, you confirm the fact there has been a shooting, but that’s as far as you

get. You begin asking bystanders for more information. A number of McGavock students have

remained at the scene. Several tell you a student was shot in a first-floor restroom. A girl who

claims to be a friend of the victim says his name is James DeVore, a freshman. She said she

thinks he is 14 years old. Another student says DeVore recently turned 15.

No one present knows who is responsible for the shooting. Minutes later police escort a young

man, handcuffed, from the school building. They place him in a squad car and drive away. You

ask people in the crowd if anyone can identify the alleged suspect. At least four tell you he is

Brian Samuels, a sophomore. You ask police at the scene to confirm this information, but no one

will reply.

Your videographer tells you she got footage of the boy being placed in the squad car. While

talking to her, you hear screams in the background. You run around the side of the building to

the loading dock area. Police have taped off the immediate area but you can see what’s going

on. EMTs are wheeling the covered body of the victim to an ambulance waiting near the dock.

Some students are crying. The videographer gets shots of the body being placed into the

ambulance and close-ups of crying students.

You approach several police officers standing near a squad car, hoping to get more facts. Inside

the squad car an officer is radioing into police headquarters. You hear him saying “the victim is

James DeVore, age 15.” The officer radios that the suspect, Samuels, has admitted to the

shooting. You also hear the following: “Samuels said it was it was payback, that DeVore had

sexually assaulted Samuels’ 6-year-old sister.” Because you are under deadline, you decide not

to interview the officers personally and head back to the station.

When you get back to the station, a colleague tells you he covered a story two years ago on

another incident at McGavock, and it involved a student named Jeffrey Samuels. You pull out

the footage from that broadcast, and the story relates to a drug arrest at the school in which

Jeffrey Samuels, then age 18, was charged with felony sale of narcotics. He is now serving the

second year of a 10-year sentence in a state prison. You call McGavock and get a guidance

counselor still at the school who confirms that Jeffrey and Brian are brothers.

Your editor tells you he needs the story for the 5 p.m. newscast. You compile your notes and

work with an editor to decide which footage to use to accompany the story. You decide to show

the suspect being placed in the squad car, the victim’s covered body being placed in the

ambulance, and the tearful reactions of students.

You write the following to accompany the story:

“A 15-year-old McGavock High School sophomore, a member of a family with a history

of run-ins with the law, admitted to fatally shooting a fellow student this afternoon.

Metro police arrested Brian Samuels in connection with the shooting death of

McGavock freshman James DeVore. Informed sources say the shooting took place in a

school restroom.

Police report Samuels shot the victim in retaliation for a sexual assault allegedly made

by DeVore on the suspect’s younger sister.

Two years ago, the brother of the suspect, Jeffrey Samuels, was convicted of selling

narcotics while he was a student at McGavock. He is now serving a 10-year sentence in a

state penitentiary.”

ASSIGNMENT:

The Samuels family sues for invasion of privacy in the areas of Intrusion, Private Facts and False

Light.

• What potential legal problems (related to privacy) are contained in the text of the story?

• Are there problems with any part of the footage that was aired?

• The evening the story runs, you discover from police that Brian Samuels is actually 17
years old and a junior at the high school. What are the consequences, if any, of this

reporting error?

• How does the suit stand up against the various elements required for each alleged
privacy invasion?

• Analyze the situation from a legal standpoint. If you believe the media committed an
invasion of privacy, make the best case for the Samuels.

• If you believe the reporter and videographer did not legally invade the family’s privacy,
provide a solid defense.

Cite appropriate cases and decisions to support your arguments.