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Constitutional Law Keyed to Choper
Bartnicki v. Vopper
Citation:
532 U.S. 514 (2001)Facts
In 1993, Gloria Bartnicki, the chief negotiator for a teachers’ union, had a phone conversation with Anthony Kane, the union president, regarding contentious collective bargaining negotiations with the school board. During this conversation, Kane made statements suggesting they might “blow off [the] front porches” of school board officials. An unknown person intercepted and recorded this cellular phone conversation without their knowledge or consent. The recording was later anonymously delivered to Jack Yocum, head of a local taxpayers’ organization that opposed the union’s demands. Yocum recognized the voices on the tape and played it for school board members before delivering it to Frederick Vopper, a radio commentator known for criticizing the union. Vopper subsequently broadcast the contents of the tape on his public affairs program. Bartnicki and Kane sued Vopper, Yocum, and other media defendants under federal and Pennsylvania wiretapping laws, which prohibit the intentional disclosure of communications when the discloser knows or has reason to know the information was obtained through illegal interception.
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