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Constitutional Law Keyed to Barnett
Cohen v. Cowles Media Co.
Citation:
501 U.S. 663 (1991)Facts
During the 1982 race for Minnesota governor, Plaintiff Cohen (a political operative who was associated with the Republican gubernatorial candidate) reached out to reporters and offered to provide documents relating to one of the candidates. He told reporters that he would only provide the documents if they promised to keep his identity confidential. Reporters from both newspapers promised to keep his identity confidential and Cohen provided the information. The newspapers subsequently decided to publish Cohen’s name along with the story. Cohen was fired as a result of the stories’ publication, and he sued for breach of contract. The newspapers argued that the they lawfully obtained truthful information that served the public interest, and thus they could not be constitutionally punished for publication of that information pursuant to the First Amendment.
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Topic Resources
Topic Outline
First AmendmentTopic Refresher Course
Introduction to Freedom SpeechTopic Charts & Notes
First Amendment Chart