PUR 3000 Intro to Public Relations Lecture Notes Exam remember cases and their precedents First Amendment Considerations Chapter 7 Public Relations Law E2 Schenck v United States Clear and Present Danger Test o Schenck secretary of American socialist party created pamphlets about the draft if you re drafted DON T GO o convicted under federal law confiscated pamphlets before they were distributed and said he violated the Espionage Act can t advocate for overthrow of government o Claimed he was protected by first amendment o Ruling convicted guilty Ruled this way because country would ve been in serious danger if people didn t serve in the army since we re at war It was a clear and present danger to the threat of the country o Outcome Clear and Present Danger Test Anytime a publication comes to court we ll test it with this because of this case Ruling also depends on the time today pamphlets probably wouldn t be taken Gitlow v New York Due Process o Gitlow created pamphlets and arrested convicted under state law Does federal court have jurisdiction over state laws 14th Amendment supreme court has jurisdiction over state local and federal laws can t deprive someone of life liberty or pursuit of happiness Near v Minnesota changed the Clear and Present Danger Test censorship case o Near tabloid that said mean things about people different races Jewish people etc o Arrested for violating nucence statue What about freedom of speech o Conviction overturned o Outcome this case replaced Clear and Present Danger Test with the Near Test Near Test 3 times when court will uphold censorship before speech made 1 If obscene Obscenity whether to the average person jury of your peers applying the contemporary standards of the community standards can change over time and range in communities the dominate theme of the material taken as a whole look at work in its entirety appeals to the pruint interest in sex pruint creates an unnatural craving for sex 2 Incitement to violence Ex Can t yell fire in crowded theatre 3 Threat to national security Does this literally mean during time of war PR licensing people think it s an abridgement of first amendment First amendment written for the people not the newspapers 10 Amendments BOR sales job for Constitution Censorship prior restraint stopping speech before it s made criminal offense to broadcast obscene comments Court says if we have to choose we ll let you air your work and then decide if it s bad o o 18 US c1462 print 18 US c1464 electronic John Twine book written about the rights of people was the publisher didn t even write it and got in trouble 1 PUR 3000 Intro to Public Relations Lecture Notes Redrup v New York E2 o Among the 9 of us supreme court we can t agree on what obscenity is so not going to convict anyone unless Non consenting adults Minors protected Pandered using sensational technology to sell it Investor Relations Rule 10b 5 of Securities and Exchange Act o No dissemination of false or misleading information to investors Can t tell investors about all these good things the company is doing if they re not can t mislead the public o Prohibits insider trading of securities based on material not disclosed to the public Can t buy or sell stock based on what you know but public doesn t not fair Ex Martha Stewart Defamation of Character Tort any civil wrong other than a breach of contract Criminal laws pay fine jail death Contract laws agreements that people or orgs make with each other Tort laws anything else that s civil Corporations and companies have character o 2 sub torts Libel written 1 In most states if spoken remark comes from a prepared text it s libel Ex newscaster reading the prompter 2 Slander spoken Can t get punitive damages for slander unless Remark made caused individual business to lose money Has to be proven and remark needs to be false Ex Madison Social cockroach If you impugn the chastity of a female she may collect damages as long as it s untrue o o Ex She s no virgin Elements of Libel Have to prove 5 elements exist to prove libel Only exception obituary fathered two illegitimate daughters and gave their names sued court said even though it wasn t true since birth certificate was wrong from beginning judge sided with plaintiffs women Publication prove remark was published o Disseminated for mass consumption Magazine billboards ads newspapers NEED person who said person who it was about 1 more person 3 people Shepard v Lampher wrote letter to Mrs Shepard saying really bad things sexual behavior she filed suit Ruling judge threw out case because she voluntarily published the letter by showing it to her neighbor Identification it has to readily identify someone and needs to be specific John B Jones at 123 Sesame Street because other John Jones could sue if not o Group membership group needs to be small enough so that everyone is readily identified 2 PUR 3000 Intro to Public Relations Lecture Notes E2 Neiman Marcus v Laite Laite published tabloid and reported that male designers were homos the floor models were prostitutes and sales girls were call girls sales girls didn t collect because there were too many of them Real Defamation one of three Can tell lies all day long as long as you re not damaging their reputation i e lose job Personal reputation Professional reputation Social contact impeding someone s right to have social contact with other people Unprivileged occasion Aids Absolute privilege privilege of the participant o o o o Privilege of individual as part of public official preceding May be asked questions that cause you to damage someone s rep Ex witness in murder trial Did Smith kill Jones you called him a murderer defamatory remark but you re protected McCarthy on the floor of the Senate called people defamatory names even though off topic he was a part of public official preceding so was protected even though things he said were mean and unrelated Allowed in court of law meetings of committees Senate if you ve been called to testify o Qualified privilege privilege of the reporter Privilege extended to news media to cover official preceding and report about it Ex reporter writes news story fair and actual account protected even if verdict is wrong you printed what happened can t be biased Actual Malice Need to prove one of the two Publication published a remark when they knew it was a lie OR with reckless disregard to finding out if it was true or false o o Knowledge of falsity Reckless disregard for the truth
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