The federal appeals court in Atlanta has thrown out a $250,000 punitive damage award against Hustler magazine for publishing nude photographs of wrestler Chris Benoit's late wife.
An Atlanta jury originally awarded $19.6 million in punitive damages to the estate of Nancy Benoit, but a judge reduced that to $250,000. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated that award after finding overwhelming evidence Hustler mistakenly believed the photos were subject to a newsworthiness exception that would have allowed their publication.
Atlanta lawyer Derek Bauer, who represented the magazine, said the case highlights the difficulties publishers can face trying to identify the lines between news, entertainment and commercial speech. It is also why in such cases the First Amendment cannot support awards of punitive damages against publishers who publish in good faith but guess wrong about whether the federal courts will agree with their decision, he said.
"I think the opinion strikes a careful and thoughtful balance between the reality that federal judges – who are unelected -- have the power to decide what is or is not legitimately news the free American public is entitled to learn, and the need to protect the press from disproportionate punishment when such decisions are made after a story is already published," Bauer said.
The ruling did not affect the jury's $125,000 award in compensatory damages to the estate for the 20-year-old nude photographs of Nancy Benoit published in Hustler's March 2008 issue, less than a year after Benoit was murdered.
Chris Benoit strangled his 43-year-old wife and 7-year-old son at their Fayette County home before committing suicide.
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