Friday column: Privacy trumps a porn mag’s ‘right’

Great moments in protecting the freedom of the press:

* 1734 — Alexander Hamilton defends John Peter Zenger’s right to publish attacks on the governor of New York.

* 1971 — Floyd Abrams and others defend The New York Times’ publication of The Pentagon Papers.

* 2010 — The Society of Professional Journalists defends Hustler’s right to publish naked photos of Nancy Benoit, printed after her murder by her husband, wrestler Chris Benoit.

What?

Yes, the SPJ, along with other journalism groups, filed amicus briefs in support of Hustler on First Amendment grounds. In 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Thrash dismissed a lawsuit filed against Hustler by Nancy Benoit’s mother, concluding that the magazine had the right to publish the photos in part because her death was a “legitimate matter of public interest and concern.”

Her death — and that of her son at the hand of her husband, who then killed himself — a “legitimate matter of public interest and concern?” Yes. Two-decades-old nude photos? No.

I can see the dollar value of the photos’ publication. What precisely is the news value?

Thrash’s decision was reversed last year by the Atlanta based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The photographs published by (Flynt) neither relate to the incident of public concern conceptually (the murders) nor correspond with the time period during which Benoit was rendered, against her will, the subject of public scrutiny,” the appeals court wrote. “Were we to hold otherwise, (Flynt) would be free to publish any nude photograph of almost anyone without their permission, simply because the fact they were caught nude on camera strikes someone as ‘newsworthy.’ Surely that debases the very concept of a right to privacy.”

That reasoning was upheld this week by the U.S. Supreme Court.

So the lawsuit proceeds, which is good. Thrash’s decision was more obscene than anything Hustler publishes, which is saying something.

* * *

Speaking of treating women as a commodity …

In testimony last week, Denver’s Brandon Marshall admitted he may have “escalated” a New Year’s Day 2007 dispute with a gang member, a dispute that police say led to the shooting death of Marshall’s Broncos teammate Darrent Williams.

At the party, a conflict began between Marshall’s group and the group of Willie Clark, now on trial for Williams’ death. Marshall at first tried to smooth things over. “I told them, ‘We got all these bottles of champagne up here, all these women, it’s New Year’s — just party with us.’ ”

Clark’s group wouldn’t accept Marshall’s hospitality, and when the conflict started up outside the party, Marshall “got angry a little bit” and started swearing. Things went downhill from there.

But heck, if your generous offer to share your Cristal and your women was snubbed, wouldn’t you feel dissed?

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.