Tory v. Cochran

SCOTUSCase
Litigants=Tory v. Cochran
ArgueDate=March 22
ArgueYear=2005
DecideDate=May 31
DecideYear=2005
FullName=Ulysses Tory, et al., Petitioners v. Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr.
USVol=544
USPage=734
Citation=125 S. Ct. 2108; 161 L. Ed. 2d 1042; 2005 U.S. LEXIS 4347; 73 U.S.L.W. 4404; 33 Media L. Rep. 1737; 18 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 322
Prior=On writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District
Subsequent=
Holding=
SCOTUS=1994-2005
Majority=Breyer
JoinMajority=Rehnquist, Stevens, O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg
Dissent=Thomas
JoinDissent=Scalia
LawsApplied=

"Tory v. Cochran", 544 U.S. 734 (2005), is a United States Supreme Court case involving libel. The case began in California with Johnnie Cochran, the famed attorney who represented O.J. Simpson, suing his former client Ulysses Tory for libel and invasion of privacy. Cochran had withdrawn as Tory’s lawyer in a civil rights suit nearly twenty years earlier, and in the late 1990s Tory began picketing Cochran’s office, carrying signs that accused him of being a thief and of accepting bribes. A trial judge ruled that Tory had made false and defamatory statements about Cochran, and instead of awarding him damages, issued an injunction ordering Tory to never again display a sign or speak about Cochran. Tory appealed, arguing that the order was a prior restraint that violated his First Amendment right to free speech. In an unpublished opinion, the California Court of Appeals ruled that the order was constitutional. The California Supreme Court declined to review the case, and on April 24, 2004, Tory filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. The petition was granted, briefing followed and the oral argument took place on March 22, 2005. Cochran died seven days later and the court asked for further briefing.

On May 31, 2005, the court ruled 7-2 that in light of Cochran's death, the injunction limiting the demonstrations of Ulysses Tory "amounts to an overly broad prior restraint upon speech." Two justices with typically conservative views, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, said that Cochran's death made it unnecessary for the court to rule.

See also

* List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 544

External links

* [http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/03-1488.htm Tory v. Cochran Supreme Court docket]
* [http://www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/pdfs_04-05/03-1488Pet.pdf Petitioners' brief in pdf]
* [http://www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/pdfs_04-05/03-1488Pet.pdf Respondent's brief in pdf]
* [http://www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/pdfs_04-05/03-1488PetReply.pdf Petitioners' reply brief in pdf]
* [http://www.horvitzlevy.com/PDFs/varianacb.pdf Brief amici curaie in pdf]
* [http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/03-1488.pdf Supreme Court Oral Argument transcript]
* [http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/31may20051130/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/03-1488.pdf Slip Opinion in pdf] - "Tory v. Cochran", 544 U.S.___(2005).