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Rufus Lee SMITH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The CINCINNATI POST & TIMES-STAR et al., Defendants-Appellees

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit1973-03-21No. No. 72-1883
475 F.2d 740

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed summary judgment for the newspaper defendants, holding that because a party to a telephone conversation may lawfully record that conversation under federal law, the subsequent disclosure and publication of such a lawfully recorded conversation does not violate the Federal Wiretap Laws or the plaintiff's right to privacy.

A former court employee sued a newspaper for publishing the contents of a telephone conversation in which he allegedly offered to fix a divorce case. The employee's conversation with another party had been recorded by that party and subsequently released to the newspaper. The employee filed suit under federal wiretap laws, claiming the publication violated his rights even though he conceded the initial recording was lawful.

The court rejected the employee's arguments on multiple grounds. Because the conversation was recorded by a party to that conversation—which is permitted under federal wiretap law—there was no unlawful interception. The subsequent disclosure and publication of lawfully obtained information cannot constitute a violation of the wiretap statute. Additionally, the court found no invasion of privacy, reasoning that when someone participates in a conversation, they assume the risk that the other party may later reveal its contents.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether a party to a conversation may record it without violating federal wiretap law
  • Whether disclosure and publication of a lawfully recorded conversation violates the Federal Wiretap Laws
  • Whether such publication constitutes an invasion of privacy

Procedural posture

The plaintiff-appellant appealed from summary judgment entered in the District Court against him in his civil action under the Federal Wiretap Laws.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment, D.C., 353 F.Supp. 1126, entered against the plaintiff-appellant in his suit brought under 18 U.S.C. § 2520, which authorizes a civil action by any person whose wire or oral communication is intercepted, disclosed or used in violation of the Federal Wiretap Laws. The appellant was a party to a telephone conversation with one Howard Wunker in which the appellant allegedly indicated that he could arrange a “fix” in a divorce case then pending in the Domestic Relations Court for Hamilton County, Ohio, where the appellant was then employed. Wunker caused this conversation to be recorded, and released this recording to the appellee newspaper, which then published its contents.

As a result of this action, the appellant brought two suits in the District Court, one against Wunker for damages allegedly arising from recording and disclosing the phone conversation, and the other against the newspaper for damages allegedly resulting from publishing the contents of that conversation. The suit against Wunker was dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted because the Federal Wiretap Laws do not make it a crime for a person to record a telephone conversation to which he is a party. Smith v. Wunker, 356 F.Supp. 44 (S.D.Ohio 1972). No appeal was taken from that decision, and the appellant concedes that the recording of the conversation by Wunker was not illegal.

In this suit, the appellant claimed that although the conversation was legally obtained, it was improperly disclosed to the newspaper and therefore its publication therein was improper. We cannot agree with this contention. Since the recording was not obtained in violation of the Federal Wiretap Laws, the appellant cannot seek damages from the newspaper for publishing the conversation in violation of that section. There is no authority for disregarding the language of the statute which provides that “It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for a person not acting under color of law to intercept a wire or oral communication where such person is a party to the communication.” 18 U.S. C. § 2511(2) (d). A party to a conversation is privileged to record it. United States v. DiLorenzo, 429 F.2d 216, 219, n. 1 (2d Cir. 1970), cert. denied, 402 U.S. 950, 91 S.Ct. 1609, 29 L.Ed.2d 120; United States v. Viviano, 437 F.2d 295, 300 (2d Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 402 U.S. 983, 91 S.Ct. 1659, 29 L.Ed.2d 149.

The appellant’s contention that the recording and subsequent newspaper publication of this conversation violated his right of privacy is not well taken. Since there is no “interception” or “eavesdropping” when a party to a conversation, or a third person acting with the consent of one of the parties to the conversation, records that conversation, (e. g., Flanders v. United States, 222 F.2d 163 (6th Cir. 1955)), and since the appellant has conceded that the recording of the conversation was not unlawful in that the recorder was a participant to the conversation, it follows that it could not in any way be wrongful for that person to later disclose the contents of that conversation. Each party to a conversation, telephonic or otherwise, takes the risk that the other party may divulge the contents of that conversation, and should that happen, there has been no violation of the right of privacy. Rathburn v. United States, 355 U.S. 107, 111, 78 S.Ct. 161, 2 L.Ed.2d 134 (1957).

The appellant’s reliance upon 47 U.S.C. § 605 is similarly misplaced, since that section is violated only when a person both intercepts and divulges a communication, which is not the case in regard to this defendant. Bufalino v. Michigan Bell Telephone Co., 404 F.2d 1023, 1027 (6th Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 987, 89 S.Ct. 1468, 22 L.Ed.2d 763 (1969).

The judgment of the District Court is affirmed.