Negligence suit against reporter as cause of suicide reinstated: court upholds high standard for imposing liability, but finds dismissal premature

Article Abstract:

The Rhode Island Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's dismissal in Clift v. Narragansett Television LP in finding that a reporter's conduct in telephone interviewing a man threatening suicide did not support invasion of privacy, infliction of emotional distress and negligence claims. The Court found that the reporter did not owe the suicidal man a duty of care, an element of negligence claims. The Court also found that the reporter's conduct was not of the outrageous sort that supports infliction of emotional distress claims.

Laws, regulations and rules, Suicide, Privacy, Right of, Right of privacy, Media coverage, Rhode Island, Journalism, Mental distress (Law)

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Court strikes down prison ban on magazines 'featuring nudity.'

Article Abstract:

A federal court in Amatel v. Reno struck down a ban on federal prisoners receiving pornographic publications for not having a neutral intent. The ban was in the "Ensign Amendment," passed with the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1997, and it prohibited the Federal Bureau of Prisons from using federal funds to distribute pornographic publications.

United States, Freedom of the press, Prisons, Prison visits

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