Opinion ID: 2274696
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: analysis under the section one and section eight of the kentucky constitution

Text: Independently of the First Amendment analysis set forth above, we also conclude that the injunction is in violation of the free speech provisions set forth in Section 8 and Section 1(4) of our Kentucky Constitution. We begin by noting that there is no authority addressing the specific issue before us under the Kentucky Constitution, and so our references are principally limited to the text of the relevant provisions of the Kentucky Constitution, and the 1890 Constitutional Debates addressing the drafters' understanding of their meaning. Section 1(4) of the Kentucky Constitution provides as follows: All men are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inherent and inalienable rights, among which may be reckoned: ... Fourth: The right of freely communicating their thoughts and opinions. Section 8, titled Freedom of speech and of the press, provides as follows: Printing presses shall be free to every person who undertakes to examine the proceedings of the General Assembly or any branch of government, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. Every person may freely and fully speak, write and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. (emphasis added). Read literally, the provision would appear to prohibit any restriction of speech on any subject, though the speaker would thereafter be subject to any criminal or civil consequences available through our court system. Thus, as relevant to the present case, a reasonable restatement of the second sentence of Section 8 may well be as follows: No prior restraint against speech shall issue against a speaker by injunction, but if the speaker goes too far, he must thereafter answer civilly or criminally in the Courts of the Commonwealth. Thus, Section 8 could reasonably be interpreted as supporting the traditional rule that defamatory speech may not be enjoined at all. In any event, the provision does not support the Respondents' position that courts may broadly enjoin defamatory speech. The issue, then, is whether speakers, such as Hill, may, under Section 8, have protections above and beyond the floor established by the First Amendment. While the unmistakable clarity of Section 8 may compel, in certain instances, greater protection to speech than the First Amendment, at the same time, in interpreting the provision, it must also be recognized, as previously discussed, that some categories of speech are undeserving of any constitutional protection at all, including false, defamatory speech. In this vein, we conclude that Section 8 may be interpreted consistently with the modern rule that defamatory speech may be enjoined following a judicial determination of falsity. Since the late 1500's the common law has afforded a cause of action for damage to a person's reputation by the publication of false and defamatory statements, not only to allow an individual to vindicate his good name, but also to allow him to obtain redress for harm caused by the statements. Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S. 1, 110 S.Ct. 2695, 111 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990). Thus, there is a long-standing cause of action, predating our 1891 Constitution, permitting a plaintiff to seek remedy through the courts against those spreading false information about him. It follows that Section 8 must be interpreted with this principle in mind, and with the recognition that its drafters understood this limitation on speech. The debates themselves reflected a strong sentiment against the tolerance of defamation. For example, in his discussion of Section 8 before the Convention, Delegate C.J. Bronston, of Lexington, in the colorful language of the times, orates as follows: ... Is libel worse than murder? I answer the gentleman, in the presence of this intelligent audience, yes, it is worse than murder. You may kill a man and put him away beneath the sod, and there, over his mouldering body, may grow the green grass, and his children and grandchildren may come about and shed a tear; but take from him his reputation, and he is a living corpse walking among mena stench in their nostrilsa being subject to the scorn of the human race. Worse than murder; because the man who strikes down his fellow-man invokes at once the anger and the determination of every human being to prosecute him; but let him, by the insidious means of the press, strike down a man's character, and the people have their prurient taste gratified for a moment, and then forget, as it were, and leave the poor wretch to wander degraded throughout this life. 1 1890 Kentucky Constitutional Convention Debates, 543. As previously discussed, false defamatory speech enjoys no constitutional protections under the First Amendment. Section 8 should be similarly construed, and this construction, as reflected in the comments of Delegate Bronston, would be consistent with the sentiments of its drafters. False, defamatory speech advances no public interest, whereas there is an important right of long-standing recognition allowing a citizen redress, through the courts, of protection against false, defamatory statements against his good name and reputation. Accordingly, we conclude a reasonable interpretation of the phrase being responsible for the abuse of that liberty [to speak freely] (emphasis added) would, in addition to monetary damages, also include a speaker's being responsible to respect, and abide by, a final determination by a judge or jury that his defamatory speech is false. This obligation of being responsible would seem to include a duty to refrain from repetition of speech adjudicated to be false, and, it follows, would also include the responsibility to abide by a narrowly tailored injunction against repetition of the false speech. As such, Section 8 may be interpreted consistently with authorizing an injunction once speech has been finally adjudicated as false. We so interpret the provision. See Balboa Island Village Inn, Inc., 156 P.3d 339, (Interpreting a California constitutional provision similar to Section 8 as permitting an injunction against defamatory speech upon an adjudication of falsity. [6] ). In summary, consistent with the modern rule, we construe Section 8 as permitting an injunction against false, defamatory speech, but only upon a final judicial determination that the speech is false. See CR 65.01. A party may obtain injunctive relief in the circuit court by permanent injunction in a final judgment. (emphasis added.) Until such determination of falsity, however, the provision is best interpreted as proscribing a preliminary restraint upon the alleged defamatory speech. We hold that neither a restraining order under CR 65.03, nor a temporary injunction under CR 65.04 may be used to enjoin allegedly defamatory speech.