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Prior Restraints: Statutory restraints

Some states have statutes that make it a crime to publish the names of rape victims. Journalists who break these laws are theoretically subject to fines and jail sentences.¹⁸

However, a Florida statute making it a misdemeanor for the media to identify alleged sexual assault victims violates the federal and Florida constitutions, the Supreme Court of Florida unanimously held in December 1994. The Florida legislature may not impose automatic liability for publishing lawfully obtained, truthful information about matters of public concern, the court ruled.¹⁹

Similarly, an Alabama state judge overturned the conviction and sentence of two television newscasters who were accused of violating a state law that prohibits disclosure of information contained in juvenile records after the station broadcast the identity of a juvenile suspect. The judge said that because the juvenile was previously identified in a public forum, it was not illegal for the station to subsequently broadcast his identity.²⁰ Likewise, the Georgia Supreme Court found a statute prohibiting the news media or other persons from naming or identifying rape victims unconstitutional.²¹

However, the South Carolina Supreme Court held that a statute that prohibits the publication of rape victims' names was not unconstitutional on its face.²²

Although the Supreme Court has not held that these statutes are unconstitutional as written, it has ruled that states cannot punish journalists for publishing truthful information they have obtained from public records or official proceedings.²³

In another case, the Supreme Court refused to permit a newspaper to be held liable for publication of the name of a rape victim that was inadvertently released by a police department.²⁴

Notes

18. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 794.03 (1998); Ga. Code Ann. § 16-6-23 (1998).

19. Florida v. Globe Communications Corp., 648 So.2d 110 (Fla. 1994).

20. Alabama v. Ozbirn, CC-93-143 (Dist. Ct. Franklin Cty., Ala., dismissed, Feb. 3, 1994). But see Ga. Code Ann. 15-11-60(g)(1) (1998) (stating that the name or picture of any child under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court for the first time shall not be made public by any news media upon penalty of contempt of court).

21. Dye v. Wallace, 553 S.E.2d 561 (Ga. 2001).

22. Dorman v. Aiken Communications, 398 S.E.2d 687 (S.C. 1990).

23. Cox Broadcasting v. Cohn, 420 U.S. 469 (1975).

24. Florida Star v. B.J.F., 491 U.S. 524 (1989).

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