Suit Unworthy Of Court's Time

February 4, 2002

If ever a lawsuit cried out for summary dismissal, it's that of Becky Lynn Gritzke, who is claiming a right to privacy where none exists.

Gritzke, of Aventura, is a Florida State University business major. While attending Mardi Gras in New Orleans last year, she participated in one of the risque customs of the pre-Lenten festival. She bared her breasts in exchange for beads and trinkets -- and, presumably, the hoots and cheers of the assembled multitude.

Turns out the multitude was bigger than she thought. Some enterprising photographers shot footage of the bacchanalian scene, and Gritzke ended up a star attraction in a video called "Girls Gone Wild," featuring women exposing parts of their bodies at Mardi Gras, Spring Break and other public events. Now she's suing MRA Holdings LLC, claiming the producers invaded her privacy and used her image without permission.

Gritzke is seeking unspecified damages and wants the tapes taken off the market while the suit is pending. Among other things, she says she was recorded without her knowledge.

Without her knowledge? Hah! That's a good one.

Gritzke knew Mardi Gras was a newsworthy public event, that thousands of people were watching in the flesh that day, and that many of them had still or video cameras. What did she think those cameras were for? Where was her expectation of privacy? Such an expectation is essential if one hopes to prevail in an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit. Furthermore, permission is not needed to publish an image from such an event.

As for her request for an injunction to yank the video out of circulation, that would constitute prior restraint of publication, which a voluminous body of case law has established to be unconstitutional under the First Amendment.

At first blush, this might seem like much ado about nothing, worth little more than a few giggles and winks. But it's precisely the kind of frivolous, spurious litigation that is clogging America's courts and hampering the judiciary's ability to thoughtfully and deliberately mete out justice in legitimate cases.

Gritzke's suit, filed in Florida's 2nd Judicial Circuit, should be summarily dismissed, with court costs assessed against the plaintiff. That should discourage others from similarly wasting the courts' time and the taxpayers' money.

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