Digital Media and Data Privacy Law Blog

In late September, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed on First Amendment grounds a $5 million jury verdict against infamous Kansas preacher Fred Phelps and other members of his Westboro Baptist Church.

The claim against Phelps and his church members arose from their protest activities at the March 2006 funeral of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder, a U.S. Marine who was killed in Iraq. At Snyder's funeral in Westminster, Maryland, Phelps and other protesters held up a variety of offensive signs decrying gays, Catholics, and Americans generally.  Members of ... Read More 

Although North Carolina does not recognize certain invasion of privacy claims recognized in some states, its courts have adopted the claim of invasion of privacy by intrusion. Unlawful intrusion is:

an intentional physical or sensory interference with, or prying into, a person’s solitude or seclusion or his private affairs, where the intrusion is highly offensive or objectionable to a reasonable person.

Examples of conduct that North Carolina courts have found constituted unlawful intrusion include physically invading a person’s home or private place, eavesdropping by ... Read More