Cohen v. Cowles Media Co.

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Cohen v. Cowles Media Co.

Argued March 27, 1991
Decided June 24, 1991

Full case name:	Dan Cohen v. Cowles Media Company, dba Minneapolis Star & Tribune Company, et al.

Citations:	501 U.S. 663; 111 S. Ct. 2513; 115 L. Ed. 2d 586; 1991 U.S. LEXIS 3639; 59 U.S.L.W. 4773; 18 Media L. Rep. 2273; 91 Cal. Daily Op. Service 4796; 91 Daily Journal DAR 7417

Prior history:	Certiorari to the Supreme Court of Minnesota

Holding

Court membership

Chief Justice: William Rehnquist
Associate Justices: Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter

Case opinions

Majority by: White
Joined by: Rehnquist, Stevens, Scalia, Kennedy
Dissent by: Blackmun
Joined by: Marshall, Souter
Dissent by: Souter
Joined by: Marshall, Blackmun, O'Connor

Cohen v. Cowles Media Co., 501 U.S. 663 (1991)^[1], was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that freedom of the press does not exempt journalists from generally applicable laws.

Dan Cohen, a Republican associated with Wheelock Whitney's 1982 Minnesota gubernatorial run, provided inculpatory information on the Democratic challenger for Lieutenant Governor, Marlene Johnson, to the Minneapolis Star Tribune in exchange for a promise that his identity as the source would not be published. Over the reporter's objections, an editor decided to publish his name. He consequently lost his job at an advertising agency. He sued Cowles Media Company who owned the newspaper.

In 1988, a jury of six found in Cohen's favor. The Minnesota Supreme Court reversed. The United States Supreme Court remanded the case to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which reinstated the jury's original verdict of $200,000.