Florida Star v. B.J.F.

A sheriff's department report identifying B.J.F. (plaintiff) as a rape and robbery victim was placed in a press room where a Florida Star (defendant) reporter saw and then published her full name, in violation of a state statute barring publication of a sexual assault victim's identity in any instrument of mass communication. B.J.F. settled with the sheriff's department and won a jury verdict against the Florida Star for $75,000 in compensatory and $25,000 in punitive damages, which the appellate court affirmed; the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari after the Florida Supreme Court denied review.