Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn
United States Supreme Court
420 U.S. 469 (1975)
- Written by Megan Petersen, JD
Facts
In 1971, the seventeen-year-old daughter of Cohn (plaintiff) was raped by six youths. She did not survive the incident. The subsequent prosecution of these youths received substantial press coverage. However, Cohn’s daughter’s name was not disclosed throughout the prosecution. The incident and trial occurred in the state of Georgia, which makes it a misdemeanor to publish or broadcast the name or identity of a rape victim. At trial, five of the six youths pleaded guilty to rape. The murder charge was dropped. Subsequently, Wassell (defendant), a reporter for Cox Broadcasting Corp. (Cox) (defendant), legally obtained the name of Cohn’s daughter by looking through the public judicial records associated with the case. He later published a news report about the court proceedings and stated the name of Cohn’s daughter. Cohn brought suit against Cox and Wassell claiming money damages for invasion of his right to privacy based on the Georgia statute prohibiting publication of a rape victim’s name. The lower court granted judgment for Cohn, and Cox appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (White, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 812,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
