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The Taming of the Press ^UCohen v. Cowles Media Company^R
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Elliot C. Rothenberg
ISBN: 0-275-96601-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-96601-0
296 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 9/30/1999
List Price: $86.95 (UK Sterling Price: £59.95)
Availability: Print on demand
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: Cohen v. Cowles Media Company changed the course of First Amendment media law. After a quarter century of decisions interpreting the First Amendment to give media organizations preferential treatment, the Supreme Court ruled in 1991 that the Constitution did not give the press immunity from the laws ordinary citizens must obey. The American Bar Association quarterly Communications Lawyer (Spring 1998) calls Cohen a media law hall of fame case. The author, who was the plaintiff's sole attorney in all phases of the case, provides detailed analysis of the complexities of constitutional litigation and the strategic and tactical considerations involved in formulating constitutional arguments in the Supreme Court and other courts.

This is a classic David v. Goliath story of a lone lawyer who worked out of his basement taking on media and legal giants and winning. Scores of attorneys from major law firms around the country represented the Minneapolis and St. Paul newspaper defendants and their allies in court in a case where experts were confident that the press could never lose. The Cohen decision has revolutionized the law regarding accountability for wrongdoing by media organizations, and many federal and state courts have relied upon the Cohen case in holding media organizations liable for their actions. This lively account will interest not only legal and media scholars, but all readers interested in correcting injustice.
Table of Contents:
  • Preface
    Hanging Cohen Out to Dry
    No Way to Treat a Tipster
    Rothenberg v. Rothenberg
    Taking on City Hall
    No Threat to a Free Press in Requiring It to Obey the Law
    A Solitary Crusade
    Journalistic Malpractice on Trial
    The Ghost of Deep Throat
    Meeting Megan Carter
    Casting the Attacks into Oblivion
    Something for Everyone
    Not for Another 200 Years
    The Court Granted the Cert, the Court Granted the Cert
    The Karen Silkwood Rejoinder
    Thank You, Justice O'Connor. Thank You, Justice Scalia
    We Shall Not Be Moved
    Turnabout Is Fair Play
    Epilogue: New Individual Freedom Honors the 200th Birthday of the Bill of Rights
    Bibliographical Note
    Table of Cases
    Index
About the Author: ELLIOT C. ROTHENBERG is a Minneapolis attorney with a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School. His briefs and oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court are published in Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States, Vol. 200. He has published articles in many newspapers and periodicals, including The Wall Street Journal, Columbia Journalism Review, and law reviews and has served on the faculties of national First Amendment and communications law seminars.
LCC Class: 343
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