Assignment task:
Your client operates a twitter site that has over 5,000 followers. The numbers are growing each week. Her tweets consist of wry and sometimes offensive comments about current affairs. One of her favorite topics currently is the inability of the local police to discover who is behind a series of successful local bank robberies. She has been extremely critical of the police and has even called for the police chief's resignation. In retaliation the police chief gives a copy of her sealed juvenile file to a local reporter. Your client was convicted of shoplifting a jade necklace from the local jewelry store. She paid the cost of the necklace, did 200 hours of community service and had her conviction expunged. Under state law, it is illegal to publish information contained in a sealed juvenile file. The reporter nevertheless publishes the information contained in the file. In defense of the civil action filed by your client, the reporter claims that your client is a public figure whose early illegal activities are relevant to the present public debate over police competence. Do you think this defense will be successful?