Opinion ID: 2612098
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The third count fails to establish an actionable cause for an invasion of privacy

Text: (13a, 14) The third count of the amended complaint alleges that the editorial in question constitutes an actionable invasion of privacy of Mrs. Kapellas's minor children. Insofar as the claimed invasion of privacy rests on the unwarranted publication by defendant of intimate details of [the children's] private [lives] ( Coverstone v. Davies (1952) 3 Cal.2d 315, 323 [239 P.2d 876], cert. den. sub nom. Mock v. Davies (1952) 344 U.S. 840 [97 L.Ed. 653, 73 S.Ct. 50]), this allegation states a cause of action separate and distinct from the initial libel count. [16] (15) In such an action a plaintiff does not rely upon the inaccuracy of the content of an article; instead, he charges that even if accurate the publication of the facts interferes with his right to be let alone. ( Melvin v. Reid (1931) 112 Cal. App. 285, 289 [297 P. 91].) (16) When such an assertion composes the gravamen of an action as to a right to privacy against a newspaper, the cause falls outside the category of cases for which section 48a contemplates coverage. Since the complaint does not rest upon the inaccuracy of a statement but upon the unwanted publicity resulting from an article, the private party gains no relief from a subsequent retraction or correction of the article but, on the contrary, suffers additional injury by the repeated exposure. We find no indication that in enacting section 48a, the Legislature intended to relieve newspapers from any effective sanction for violating an individual's right to privacy. [17] (13b) The facts of the present case, however, do not support an action for this kind of invasion of privacy. With the expansion of the common law's protection of an individual's privacy, [18] came a concomitant recognition of an equally important, and constitutionally enshrined, competing interest of the public in information of newsworthy matters. Sensitive to the privacy tort's potential encroachment on the freedoms of speech and the press, our courts have recognized a broad privilege cloaking the truthful publication of all newsworthy matters. (See Coverstone v. Davies, supra, 38 Cal.2d 315, 323; Melvin v. Reid, supra, 112 Cal. App. 285, 290; cf. Spahn v. Julian Messner, Inc. (1966) 18 N.Y.2d 324, 328, [274 N.Y.S.2d 877, 221 N.E.2d 543].) [19] Although the courts still have only hesitantly sketched the boundaries of the newsworthy category, [20] the facts published about the Kapellas children in the editorial in question clearly fall within the allowable limits evolved through the case law. (17) In determining whether a particular incident is newsworthy and thus whether the privilege shields its truthful publication from liability, the courts consider a variety of factors, including the social value of the facts published, the depth of the article's intrusion into ostensibly private affairs, and the extent to which the party voluntarily acceded to a position of public notoriety. (See Gill v. Curtis Publishing Co. (1952) 38 Cal.2d 273, 278-279 [239 P.2d 630]. [21] (18) If the information reported has previously become part of the public domain or the intrusion into an individual's private life is only slight, publication will be privileged even though the social utility of the publication may be minimal. (See Gill w. Hearst Publishing Co. (1953) 40 Cal.2d 224 [253 P.2d 441] (publication of photograph of plaintiffs in public place not sufficiently intrusive); cf. Metter v. Los Angeles Examiner (1939) 35 Cal. App.2d 304, 312 [95 P.2d 491].) On the other hand, when the legitimate public interest in the published information is substantial, a much greater intrusion into an individual's private life will be sanctioned, especially if the individual willingly entered into the public sphere. [22] Because of their public responsibilities, government officials and candidates for such office have almost always been considered the paradigm case of public figures who should be subjected to the most thorough scrutiny. [23] In choosing those who are to govern them, the public must, of course, be afforded the opportunity of learning about any facet of a candidate's life that may relate to his fitness for office. (See Garrison v. Louisiana (1964) 379 U.S. 64, 77 [13 L.Ed.2d 125, 134, 85 S.Ct. 209]; Melvin v. Reid, supra, 112 Cal. App. 285, 290.) Consequently, the press must be given ample breathing space to disseminate all information that may cast light on a candidate's qualifications. As the United States Supreme Court emphasized in Garrison v. Louisiana, supra, 379 U.S. 64, 74-75 [13 L.Ed.2d 125, 133, 85 S.Ct. 209], [S]peech concerning public affairs is more than self-expression; it is the essence of self-government. The First and Fourteenth Amendments embody our `profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.' New York Times Co. v. Sullivan , 376 U.S. [254] 270 [11 L.Ed.2d 686, 700, 84 S.Ct. 710, 95 A.L.R.2d 1412]. Those who seek elected public position realize that in so doing they subject themselves, and those closely related to them, [24] to a searching beam of public interest and attention. (See Stryker v. Republic Pictures Corp. (1951) 108 Cal. App.2d 191, 194 [238 P.2d 670] (A politician, running for public office, in effect, offers his public and private life for perusal so far as it affects his bid for office.); Baldine v. Sharon Herald Co. (W.D. Pa. 1966) 280 F. Supp. 440, 443; cf. Cohen v. Marx (1949) 94 Cal. App.2d 704, 705 [211 P.2d 320].) (19) Generally, courts will be most reluctant to impede the free flow of any truthful information that may be relevant to a candidate's qualifications for office. Although the conduct of a candidate's children in many cases may not appear particularly relevant to his qualifications for office, normally the public should be permitted to determine the importance or relevance of the reported facts for itself. [25] If the publication does not proceed widely beyond the bounds of propriety and reason in disclosing facts about those closely related to an aspirant for public office, the compelling public interest in the unfettered dissemination of information will outweigh society's interest in preserving such individuals' rights to privacy. [26] The children's loss of privacy is one of the costs of the retention of a free marketplace of ideas. (13c, 20) The editorial in question purports to disclose only incidents which had initially been recorded on the Alameda police blotter; such events would already have been matters of public record. (Cf. Carlisle v. Fawcett Publications, Inc., supra, 201 Cal. App.2d 733 (marriage an event of public record and disclosure does not violate right to privacy); Aquino v. Bulletin Co., supra, 190 Pa. Super. 528 [154 A.2d 422] (same for divorce).) Thus we are not faced with an article which intrudes deeply into the children's privacy by revealing incidents of a wholly private or confidential nature. [27] Newspapers have traditionally reported arrests or other incidents involving suspected criminal activity, and courts have universally concluded that such events are newsworthy matters of which the public has the right to be informed. (See, e.g., Coverstone v. Davies, supra, 38 Cal.2d 315, 323; Firth v. Associated Press (E.D.S.C. 1959) 176 F. Supp. 671.) Although the publication of such information long after the events occurred may in some cases not be privileged if the reported instances have lost all public importance (see Melvin v. Reid, supra, 112 Cal. App. 285; cf. Maidman v. Jewish Publications, Inc., supra, 54 Cal.2d 643, 653. But cf. Werner v. Times-Mirror Co., supra, 193 Cal. App.2d 111, 122-123), the candidacy of the children's mother in the circumstances of the instant case rendered this past behavior significant and newsworthy. Given the importance of public access to all relevant information about candidates for public office and the non-confidential nature of the reported conduct, the statements about the Kapellas children, if true, must be considered absolutely privileged. Thus the court properly sustained the demurrer to the cause of action alleging an invasion of the privacy of plaintiff's children. The judgment of dismissal of the third count is affirmed. The judgment of dismissal of the first two counts is reversed with directions to the trial court to overrule the demurrer as to these two counts and allow defendant to answer.