Case in Point
Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:38:00
Ripped in the Headlines
Guardian News v. Amicone
Decided By: New York Southern District Federal Court, March 3
Yonkers Mayor Phillip Amicone was the subject of withering attacks in the Westchester Guardian, a free weekly newspaper, throughout his ultimately successful 2007 re-election campaign. He apparently did not want to read the coverage, and sought to make sure no one else read it either. He ordered the removal of as many as 56 Guardian drop-boxes throughout Yonkers, including the ones outside of City Hall. Amicone also enforced a city ordinance which prohibits distribution of printed material in any public place.
The court determined that Amicone’s actions were unmistakably unconstitutional. Judge Charles Brieant found that Amicone was selectively enforcing Yonkers laws against the Guardian in response to its content. Amicone’s defense against this First Amendment violation was that the paper’s content was propaganda, and therefore ineligible for First Amendment protection normally accorded to newspapers.
Brieant interpreted that defense as further indication of Amicone’s hostility to the Guardian, which strengthened the paper’s winning claim.
Notably, an April 12, 2007 story in the Guardian featured effusive support for a previous Brieant decision which overturned an assault charge against a corrections officer. The story said of Brieant that he “once again, summoned the courage and the wisdom with which he has graced the Westchester Community for some thirty-six years, handing down a decision the like of which is all too seldom seen.”
A Principal, Principles, Punishment and the Post
Almontaser v. New York City Department of Education
Decided By: Second Circuit Court of Appeals, March 20
T-shirts bearing the phrase “Intifada NYC” caused a brief public uproar last year when a group named Arab Women Active in Arts and Media began selling them. At the time, Debbie Almontaser was the acting principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, a public New York City high school that specializes in Arab language and culture.
New York Post reporter Chuck Bennett sought an interview with Almontaser, who, though an Arab-American woman, had no connection whatsoever to the T-shirt-selling group. Unsubstantiated internet reports, however, had linked her with the offensive propaganda.
Almontaser’s superiors at the Department of Education eventually forced her to give the interview, over her objections.
Bennett’s August 6, 2007 story ran under the headline “City Principal Is ‘Revolting’” and, according to the court decision, mischaracterized and misquoted Almontaser’s statements in a way which made her appear supportive of the message on the T-shirts.
Though the Department of Education knew that Almontaser’s representation in the Post article was inaccurate—a Department official was listening in on the interview—she was forced to resign two days after Bennett’s story appeared.
Almontaser sued the city on First Amendment grounds, but the court rejected her claim. The court determined that her statements to the press were not protected by the First Amendment because she was a public employee speaking as part of her official duties. The court made a similar argument just last month in Ruotolo v. City of New York, which found that freedom of speech does not protect public employees in the course of their official duties.
But the court declined to make any ruling at all on whether a public employee can be sanctioned for being misquoted and mischaracterized in the press when her employer demands that she speak with the press in the first place. Citing the complexity of this issue, the court sent the case back to a lower court to determine if Almontaser has any non-First Amendment grounds to sue the city.
If All Your Friends Jumped off the Empire State Building Would You Do That Too?
People v. Corliss
Decided By: New York State Supreme Court, First Department, March 4
Jebb Corliss is famous for jumping off things and not dying. On April 26, 2006, the renowned Building Antenna Span Earth (BASE) jumper attempted to leap from the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building with a parachute. Corliss scaled the fence and was preparing to jump when an alert security guard handcuffed the would-be jumper to the security fence from the other side.
Corliss was charged with reckless endangerment in the first degree. But the indictment was dismissed when the trial court concluded that the city failed to prove that he acted with complete disregard for the lives of those below him. The trial court decided that since Corliss was wearing a parachute, he evidently cared about the safety of those on the streets.
On appeal, the State Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of the first degree charge, but said that Corliss could be guilty of reckless endangerment in the second degree, and sent the case back for a trial on that charge.
The State Supreme Court decided that jumping off of the Empire State Building is manifestly unreasonable, so would be eligible for a second degree recklessness charge. This charge is applicable when dangerous conduct deviates from what a reasonable person—with or without a parachute—would do in a similar situation.
There is no law specifically prohibiting people from jumping off of anything in New York. The court argues that the reckless endangerment statute makes such behavior essentially illegal, but New York City Council Member Peter Vallone, Jr. (D-Queens) wants additional clarity. Vallone introduced a bill on March 3 that would outlaw climbing and jumping off any structure taller than 25 feet.
Guardian News v. Amicone
Decided By: New York Southern District Federal Court, March 3
Yonkers Mayor Phillip Amicone was the subject of withering attacks in the Westchester Guardian, a free weekly newspaper, throughout his ultimately successful 2007 re-election campaign. He apparently did not want to read the coverage, and sought to make sure no one else read it either. He ordered the removal of as many as 56 Guardian drop-boxes throughout Yonkers, including the ones outside of City Hall. Amicone also enforced a city ordinance which prohibits distribution of printed material in any public place.
The court determined that Amicone’s actions were unmistakably unconstitutional. Judge Charles Brieant found that Amicone was selectively enforcing Yonkers laws against the Guardian in response to its content. Amicone’s defense against this First Amendment violation was that the paper’s content was propaganda, and therefore ineligible for First Amendment protection normally accorded to newspapers.
Brieant interpreted that defense as further indication of Amicone’s hostility to the Guardian, which strengthened the paper’s winning claim.
Notably, an April 12, 2007 story in the Guardian featured effusive support for a previous Brieant decision which overturned an assault charge against a corrections officer. The story said of Brieant that he “once again, summoned the courage and the wisdom with which he has graced the Westchester Community for some thirty-six years, handing down a decision the like of which is all too seldom seen.”
A Principal, Principles, Punishment and the Post
Almontaser v. New York City Department of Education
Decided By: Second Circuit Court of Appeals, March 20
T-shirts bearing the phrase “Intifada NYC” caused a brief public uproar last year when a group named Arab Women Active in Arts and Media began selling them. At the time, Debbie Almontaser was the acting principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, a public New York City high school that specializes in Arab language and culture.
New York Post reporter Chuck Bennett sought an interview with Almontaser, who, though an Arab-American woman, had no connection whatsoever to the T-shirt-selling group. Unsubstantiated internet reports, however, had linked her with the offensive propaganda.
Almontaser’s superiors at the Department of Education eventually forced her to give the interview, over her objections.
Bennett’s August 6, 2007 story ran under the headline “City Principal Is ‘Revolting’” and, according to the court decision, mischaracterized and misquoted Almontaser’s statements in a way which made her appear supportive of the message on the T-shirts.
Though the Department of Education knew that Almontaser’s representation in the Post article was inaccurate—a Department official was listening in on the interview—she was forced to resign two days after Bennett’s story appeared.
Almontaser sued the city on First Amendment grounds, but the court rejected her claim. The court determined that her statements to the press were not protected by the First Amendment because she was a public employee speaking as part of her official duties. The court made a similar argument just last month in Ruotolo v. City of New York, which found that freedom of speech does not protect public employees in the course of their official duties.
But the court declined to make any ruling at all on whether a public employee can be sanctioned for being misquoted and mischaracterized in the press when her employer demands that she speak with the press in the first place. Citing the complexity of this issue, the court sent the case back to a lower court to determine if Almontaser has any non-First Amendment grounds to sue the city.
If All Your Friends Jumped off the Empire State Building Would You Do That Too?
People v. Corliss
Decided By: New York State Supreme Court, First Department, March 4
Jebb Corliss is famous for jumping off things and not dying. On April 26, 2006, the renowned Building Antenna Span Earth (BASE) jumper attempted to leap from the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building with a parachute. Corliss scaled the fence and was preparing to jump when an alert security guard handcuffed the would-be jumper to the security fence from the other side.
Corliss was charged with reckless endangerment in the first degree. But the indictment was dismissed when the trial court concluded that the city failed to prove that he acted with complete disregard for the lives of those below him. The trial court decided that since Corliss was wearing a parachute, he evidently cared about the safety of those on the streets.
On appeal, the State Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of the first degree charge, but said that Corliss could be guilty of reckless endangerment in the second degree, and sent the case back for a trial on that charge.
The State Supreme Court decided that jumping off of the Empire State Building is manifestly unreasonable, so would be eligible for a second degree recklessness charge. This charge is applicable when dangerous conduct deviates from what a reasonable person—with or without a parachute—would do in a similar situation.
There is no law specifically prohibiting people from jumping off of anything in New York. The court argues that the reckless endangerment statute makes such behavior essentially illegal, but New York City Council Member Peter Vallone, Jr. (D-Queens) wants additional clarity. Vallone introduced a bill on March 3 that would outlaw climbing and jumping off any structure taller than 25 feet.
