The U.S. Supreme Court says police can be sued for bringing along outside guests to watch them do justice inside someone's house, invariably to the surprise and dismay of the occupants. Monday's ruling ostensibly involved police and the right of privacy under the Fourth Amendment. But the First Amendment was in play, too. In the case before the court, the guests the police brought along were a news reporter and a photographer. Reporters have known for a long, long time that newspapers can be sued for invasion of privacy in what they report, even if police with warrants can't be sued for a home invasion.
Editors always err on the side of caution in printing photos, names and details.
On Monday the justices ruled unanimously that bringing strangers who are not police into your house to watch you roughed up and humiliated clearly is an invasion of privacy. Life is unfair, Jimmy Olsen. Although the police, not the press, were at issue, in this instance the right of privacy trumped freedom of the press. It often does. We won't quibble over the court ruling on the merits of the case.