Tory v. Cochran
Johnnie Cochran, the noted defense lawyer who represented O.J. Simpson, sued his former client Ulysses Tory in a California court for libel and invasion of privacy. Cochran had withdrawn as Tory’s lawyer in a civil rights suit nearly twenty years earlier, and in the late 1990s Tory began picketing Cochran’s office, carrying signs that accused him of being a thief and of accepting bribes, among other things. A trial judge ruled that Tory had made false and defamatory statements about Cochran, but instead of awarding him damages, the judge issued an injunction ordering Tory to never again display a sign or speak about Cochran. Tory appealed, arguing that the order was a prior restraint that violated his First Amendment right to free speech. In an unpublished opinion, the California Court of Appeals ruled that the order was constitutional. The court reasoned that, once speech has been determined to be libelous and thus unprotected under the First Amendment, "an injunction restraining that speech does not constitute an impermissible prior restraint."
Question Presented:
Whether a permanent injunction as a remedy in a defamation action, preventing all future speech about an admitted public figure, violates the First Amendment.
Decision under Review:
Court of Appeal of California, October 29, 2003 (unpublished opinion; no free link)
