Briscoe v. Reader's Digest Association

483 P.2d 34 (1971)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

In 1956, P and another man hijacked a truck in Danville, Kentucky. He has since been rehabilitated. D published an article in 1967 called 'The Big Business of Hijacking' 11 years after the hijacking incident. The article commences with a picture whose caption reads, 'Today's highwaymen are looting trucks at a rate of more than $100 million a year. But the truckers have now declared all-out war.' The article describes various truck thefts and the efforts being made to stop such thefts. Dates ranging from 1965 to the time of publication are mentioned throughout the article, but none of the described thefts is itself dated. D was referred to truthfully in the article, but there was nothing to indicate that the hijacking occurred in 1956. P's 11-year-old daughter, as well as his friends, learned for the first time of his criminal past. They thereafter scorned and abandoned him. P sued D for invasion of privacy. P claims that the public disclosure of these private facts has humiliated him and exposed him to contempt and ridicule. Conceding that the subject of the article may have been 'newsworthy, 'he contends that the use of his name was not and that the defendant has thus invaded his right to privacy.