LOS ANGELES
A lawsuit by former U.S. Rep. Katie Hill of California against the Daily Mail was dismissed Wednesday by a judge who said the tabloid was protected under the First Amendment when it published nude photos of her.
Judge Yolanda Orozco wrote in her decision that she accepted the Daily Mail’s argument that the publication of the photos was “a matter of public issue or public interest.”
Hill’s lawyer, Carrie Goldberg, indicated her client would appeal.
“DM said, and the court agreed, that Katie’s nudes were their free speech. We think the appellate court will disagree,” Goldberg tweeted Wednesday.
Judge dismisses claims against Daily Mail in Katie Hill case
Published article
U.S. Representative Katie Hill (D-CA) speaking at the Ignite Young Women Run D.C. Conference in Washington, DC. (Photo by Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - A judge cited First Amendment grounds on Wednesday in dismissing the Daily Mail as a defendant in former Rep. Katie Hill s revenge porn suit, which stems from the unauthorized publication of nude images of her.
The Daily Mail s website in October 2019 published nude photos of Hill taken by her former spouse, Kenneth Heslep, according to the former congresswoman s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, which was filed Dec. 22 and alleges state Civil Code violations and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Hill later tweeted a response to the ruling. I sued the Daily Mail for their publication of my nonconsensual nude images, she said. Today, we lost in court because a judge not a jury thinks revenge porn is free speech. This fight has massive implications for any woman who ever wants to run for office, so quitting isn t an option.
But Orozco said the photos were a matter of public concern. (Hill s) argument that the images are not a matter of public concern because (the Daily Mail) could have simply described the images rather than publishing them is unpersuasive, as the fact that information to be gleaned from an image may be disseminated in an alternative manner does not equate to a finding that the image itself is not a matter of public concern, the judge wrote.
By City News Service
Apr 8, 2021
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A reporter who co-authored a story featuring nude photos of Katie Hill one with a female campaign staff member and another in which Hill holds a bong appearing to contain marijuana was dismissed as a defendant in the former congresswoman s revenge porn suit today by a judge who cited First Amendment grounds.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yolanda Orozco found that reporter Jennifer Van Laar, in writing for the Daily Mail, had shown the photos were matters of legitimate interest involving a public official because they addressed Hill s character and qualifications for her position.
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