03/02/2020 Bartnicki v. Vopper, 532 US 514 - Supreme Court 2001 - Google Scholar In these cases, privacy concerns give way when balanced against the interest in publishing matters of public importance. As Warren and Brandeis stated in their classic law review article: "The right of privacy does not prohibit any publication of matter which is of public or general interest." The Right to Privacy, 4 Harv. L. Rev. 193, 214 (1890). One of the costs associated with participation in public affairs is an attendant loss of privacy. "Exposure of the self to others in varying degrees is a concomitant of life in a civilized community. The risk of this exposure is an essential incident of life in a society which places a primary value on freedom of speech and of press. `Freedom of discussion, if it would fulfill its historic function in this nation, must embrace all issues about which information is needed or appropriate to enable the members of society to cope with the exigencies of their period.' " Time, Inc. v. Hill, 385 U. S., at 388 (quoting Thornhill v. Alabama, 310 U. S. 88, 102 (1940)).[21] Our opinion in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254 (1964), reviewed many of the decisions that settled the "general proposition that freedom of expression upon public questions is secured by the First Amendment." Id., at 269; see Roth v. United States, 354 U. S. 476, 484 (1957); Bridges v. California, 314 U. S. 252, 270 (1941); Stromberg v. California, 283 U. S. 359, 369 (1931). Those cases all relied on our "profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open," New York Times, 376 U. S., at 535 270; see Terminiello v. Chicago, 337 U. S. 1, 4 (1949); De Jonge v. Oregon, *535 299 U. S. 353, 365 (1937); Whitney v. California, 274 U. S. 357, 375-376 (1927) (Brandeis, J., concurring); see also Roth, 354 U. S., at 484; Stromberg, 283 U. S., at 369; Bridges, 314 U. S., at 270. It was the overriding importance of that commitment that supported our holding that neither factual error nor defamatory content, nor a combination of the two, sufficed to remove the First Amendment shield from criticism of official conduct. Id., at 273; see also NAACP v. Button, 371 U. S. 415, 445 (1963); Wood v. Georgia, 370 U. S. 375 (1962); Craig v. Harney, 331 U. S. 367 (1947); Pennekamp v. Florida, 328 U. S. 331, 342, 343, n. 5, 345 (1946); Bridges, 314 U. S., at 270. We think it clear that parallel reasoning requires the conclusion that a stranger's illegal conduct does not suffice to remove the First Amendment shield from speech about a matter of public concern.[22] The months of negotiations over the proper level of compensation for teachers at the Wyoming Valley West High School were unquestionably a matter of public concern, and respondents were clearly engaged in debate about that concern. That debate may be more mundane than the Communist rhetoric that inspired Justice Brandeis' classic opinion in Whitney v. California, 274 U. S., at 372, but it is no less worthy of constitutional protection. The judgment is affirmed. It is so ordered. Justice Breyer, with whom Justice O'Connor joins, concurring. I join the Court's opinion. I agree with its narrow holding limited to the special circumstances present here: (1) the radio 536 broadcasters acted lawfully (up to the time of final public disclosure); and (2) the information publicized involved *536 a matter of unusual public concern, namely, a threat of potential physical harm to others. I write separately to explain why, in my view, the Court's holding does not imply a significantly broader constitutional immunity for the media. As the Court recognizes, the question before us—a question of immunity from statutorily imposed civil liability— implicates competing constitutional concerns. Ante, at 532— 533. The statutes directly interfere with free expression in that they prevent the media from publishing information. At the same time, they help to protect personal privacy—an interest here that includes not only the "right to be let alone," Olmstead v. United States, 277 U. S. 438, 478 (1928) (Brandeis, J., dissenting), but also "the interest . . . in fostering private speech," ante, at 518. Given these competing interests "on both sides of the equation, the key question becomes one of proper fit." Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC, 520 U. S. 180, 227 (1997) (Breyer, J., concurring in part). See also Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC, 528 U. S. 377, 402 (2000) (Breyer, J., concurring). I would ask whether the statutes strike a reasonable balance between their speech-restricting and speech-enhancing consequences. Or do they instead impose restrictions on speech that are disproportionate when measured against their corresponding privacy and speech-related benefits, taking into account the kind, the importance, and the extent of these benefits, as well as the need for the restrictions in order to secure those benefits? What this Court has called "strict scrutiny"—with its strong presumption against constitutionality—is normally out of place where, as here, important competing constitutional interests are implicated. See ante, at 518 (recognizing "conflict between interests of the highest order"); ante, at 533 ("important interests to be considered on both sides of the constitutional calculus"); ante, at 534 537 ("balanc[ing]" the interest in privacy "against the interest *537 in publishing matters of public importance"); ante, at 534 (privacy interest outweighed in these cases). https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?q=bartnicki&hl=en&as_sdt=2006&case=2171346211086974391&scilh=0 6/15