Newspaper to get 2nd chance before Idaho Supreme Court

By The Associated Press

07.17.02

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BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Supreme Court has decided to reconsider a ruling that denied The Idaho Statesman constitutional protection for publishing a 40-year-old court file that said, perhaps falsely, that a Boise man had a homosexual affair with his cousin.

In the order signed earlier this month by Court Clerk Fred Lyon, the high court also allowed the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce and a score of news organizations to file written arguments in support of The Idaho Statesman.

The court said arguments would be scheduled at a later date.

In its unanimous opinion last year, the five justices reinstated the invasion-of-privacy claim filed by Fred Uranga over the newspaper's publication in 1995 of a story recounting the 40-year-old Boys of Boise homosexuality scandal.

The paper included a photograph of a handwritten statement by one of the men eventually convicted. Melvin Dir's statement said he had affairs with two men. One man later killed himself. The statement said the other affair was with his cousin, Fred Uranga. Uranga's name never appeared in the story.

Claiming the statement was false and had never been introduced as evidence in any proceeding, Uranga demanded a correction. The newspaper declined, offering instead to either publish Uranga's rebuttal or explanation of his position along with a statement that the newspaper had no opinion on the truth of the court document.

Uranga declined both and sued.

In reversing the earlier ruling of the Court of Appeals, the state Supreme Court held that because the statement was never used as evidence in court and Uranga was never charged, it was too tangential to justify absolute constitutional protection in publication.

The three-judge Court of Appeals had sided with the newspaper, ruling that as long as the document was in the court file it was public and the news media could publish it. The appellate panel said it was up to government, not the media, to make sure documents in court files belong there.

Update

Idaho high court reverses ruling, upholds protection for news media
Unanimous decision in favor of the Statesman finds there is no invasion of privacy when information from open court records is published.  02.17.03

Previous

Idaho high court reinstates man's lawsuit against newspaper
Lower court had found First Amendment shielded the Statesman when the paper published 1955 court document tying man to homosexuality scandal.  06.22.01

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Idaho high court's misstep shouldn't be ignored
By Douglas Lee Ruling is clear, unprecedented and alarming: A newspaper that publishes information obtained from court records can be liable for invasion of privacy.  06.26.01