WASHINGTON, DC (October 2, 2007) - The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of photojournalist Peter Turnley and Harper's Magazine by upholding a March 2007 decision of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that Turnley had a First Amendment right to take a photograph of U.S. Army Spc. Kyle Brinlee's open casket at a large public funeral in Oklahoma and Harper's Magazine had the same right to publish it.
Brinlee was killed May 11, 2004, in Al Asad, Iraq, when his convoy struck an IED. More than 1,200 people attended his public funeral in a high school auditorium in Pryor, OK. Turnley photographed the funeral and pictures from it were part of an essay published in Harper's Magazine in August 2004 in an essay titled "The Bereaved: Mourning the Dead, in America and Iraq." Turnley's photographic essay compared how the war dead are buried and mourned in American culture alongside similar images of how the war dead are buried and mourned in Iraqi culture.
Reached in Prague tonight (where he is teaching a workshop) after the news of the Supreme Court ruling, Turnley said, "It was a long ordeal, but a righteous and noble one that turned out on the right side for journalism and freedom of the press and the First Amendment. I am proud of the work in this essay and grateful to Harper's for publishing these photographs and for their tremendous support during this case."
"I was given permission to attend the funeral and no restrictions were placed on what I could photograph. At the center of this case was a photograph I made that was a moment shown in public ... with more than 1,200 people present, including the governor of the state, the state’s top military officials, friends, family, and strangers. My photograph was an accurate depiction of what any member of the public and press attending this funeral could see. It was public and newsworthy, and I believe the photograph and the essay were respectful, dignified, and of great interest and importance to the citizens of our nation and the world."
Brinlee's father, Robert Showler, and his maternal grandmother, Johnny Davidson, filed suit in April 2005. A federal judge in Oklahoma ruled in favor of Harper's and Turnley citing First Amendment and state law protections. The plaintiffs appealed and an appeals court upheld the judgement, saying that Brinlee's funeral was newsworthy and a matter of public interest.
The appeals court also said that Turnley's photograph of Brinlee's open casket at the funeral was an accurate reflection of the event, as it was seen by more than a thousand attendees. The appeals court also said that such "fair and accurate media coverage of official public occasions is in the highest an best interest of the public, [and] ... cannot be treated as actionable ...", Harper's reported.
"This victory is important, not just for Harper's Magazine and Peter Turnley, but for the nation's press and its citizens," S. Douglas Dodd said today on Harper's Web site. He's the magazine's attorney. "It validates the right of the American press to cover newsworthy stories of importance to the American public without the chilling effect of successful lawsuits brought by those who disagree with the content of the stories."
