News-Gazette Liable for False Light? The Case of Jaylon Tate

When Illinois basketball player, Jaylon Tate, was arrested over the weekend for domestic assault, our local newspaper, the News-Gazette, made it a headline story in its online edition, complete with mugshots of Tate. By Monday, Tate's attorney, complained about the rush-to-publicity (and judgment), though he didn't specifically reference the paper. 

If Tate has been wrongly accused, does he have a tort claim for damages against the newspaper? Without question, the paper was doing its duty in reporting a matter of keen public interest. But did it need to run mugshots of Tate, in images that cannot be reversed or deleted?

Illinois recognizes the tort of "false light." In general, false light occurs when one person publishes information which places another person in a false light with reckless disregard or malice. There was no malice here; but what about reckless disregard? Here, it is important to note that most employers do background checks for criminal convictions-- and some do this for arrests, even though that violates discrimination laws. Google Jaylon Tate in a year or two, and odds are you will find his mug shot in the News-Gazette. From a lawyer's perspective, the question is whether Tate's claim would survive a motion to dismiss, thus making it possible to go to a jury trial. Here's hoping that the News-Gazette apologizes publicly to Tate and learns that a headline without a mugshot would suffice for informing the public. And note, when a newspaper runs a story that incorrectly portrays an African-American male as a criminal, the damage is especially significant.