Bartnicki v. Vopper

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Bartnicki v. Vopper
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 5, 2000 Decided May 21, 2001
Full case name: Bartnicki et al. v. Vopper, aka Williams, et al. Prior history: Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Subsequent history: 200 F. 3d 109, affirmed.
Holding
A broadcaster cannot be held civilly liable for publishing documents or tapes illegally procured by a third-party.
Court membership
Chief Justice: William Rehnquist Associate Justices: John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer
Case opinions
Majority by: Stevens Joined by: O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer Concurrence by: Breyer Joined by: O'Connor Dissent by: Rehnquist Joined by: Scalia, Thomas

Bartnicki v. Vopper, 532 U.S. 514 (2001), is a United States Supreme Court case relieving a media defendant of liability for broadcasting a tape conversation of a labor official talking to other union people about a teachers' strike. The parties stipulated that the taped conversation had been illegally obtained by an intercept in violation of ECPA, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act but the Court held the radio station not liable because the radio station itself did nothing illegal to obtain the tape. The case stands for the rule that media defendants are not liable even if a third party violated the law. However with the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy and current emphasis on government secrecy, there are arguments to cabin this holding to the limited facts of this case.