Karen Carpenter v. Westwood One and Tom Leykis: Free Speech, Defamation, and the Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress-does Logic Rescue Decency?

• Jurisdiction: Alaska,United States
• Publication year: 2010
• Citation: Vol. 27

§ 27 Alaska L. Rev. 49. KAREN CARPENTER V. WESTWOOD ONE AND TOM LEYKIS: FREE SPEECH, DEFAMATION, AND THE INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS-DOES LOGIC RESCUE DECENCY?

Alaska Law Review
Volume 27, No. 1, June 2010
Cited: 27 Alaska L. Rev. 49

KAREN CARPENTER V. WESTWOOD ONE AND TOM LEYKIS: FREE SPEECH, DEFAMATION, AND THE INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS-DOES LOGIC RESCUE DECENCY?

JACK B. MCGEE ^[*]

ABSTRACT

The relationship between speech protected by the First Amendment and the torts of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) is a complicated one. This is apparent in the recent Alaska Supreme Court case of Carpenter v. Westwood One, which turned on an unusual set of facts involving a national radio talk show host. The Alaska Supreme Court drew a novel distinction between the kind of speech the First Amendment protects from defamation and IIED actions, and other speech that is not protected against such actions. The basis for the court's distinction lies in the difference between speech that makes assertions of fact and speech that does not. This Comment will discuss how the Alaska Supreme Court utilized established principles of logic to support this distinction and how it applied these principles in fashioning its decision.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................50

I. RELEVANT FACTS OF CARPENTER V. WESTWOOD ONE.........................51

II. LITIGATION HISTORY OF CARPENTER V. WESTWOOD ONE...................53

III. ISSUES ON APPEAL.................................................................................54

IV. THE ALASKA SUPREME COURT'S RULING ON CARPENTER'S DEFAMATION AND FALSE LIGHT ISSUES...............................................55

A. Carpenter's Defamation Claim..................................................55

B. Carpenter's False Light Invasion of Privacy Claim.................56

V. THE ALASKA SUPREME COURT'S RULING ON CAROENTER'S IIED JURY INSTRCTION ISSUES.......................................................................56

A. Carpenter's Argument................................................................56

B. The Alaska Supreme Court's Analysis of Carpenter's Argument......................................................................................59

1. The Court's Distinction Between Leykis's Speech that Gave Rise to Carpenter's Defamation Claim and the Speech that Gave Rise to Carpenter's IIED Claim.......................................................59

2. The Logical Basis for the Court's Distinction..............................................................................60

C. The Court's Analysis of the Effect of Instruction No. 17 on the Jury...................................................................................................61

VI. THE COURT'S INSTRUCTIONS ON REMAND...........................................................................................63

VII. JUSTICE CARPENETI'S CONCURRING OPINION............................................................................................64

VIII. JUSTICE FABE'S DISSENTING OPINION............................................................................................65

IX. IIED CLAIMS IN ALASKA AFTER CARPENTER.............................................................67

CONCLUSION.......................................................................67

INTRODUCTION

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, "The life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience." ^[1] In Alaska, however, Justice Holmes' observation has not always been on the mark. The Alaska Supreme Court's decision in Carpenter v. Westwood One ^[2] is a striking example.

The Carpenter case is important in several respects. Chief among them is the court's distinction between speech assertions that give rise to defamation claims-assertions that are either true or false-and communicative speech that gives rise to claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED)-speech that does not make assertions that are true or false. ^[3] This Comment will focus on the court's distinction between defamatory speech and communicative speech that gives rise to IIED claims, the logical principles on which the distinction rests, and how the distinction led the court to its conclusion that communicative speech that is neither true nor false is not speech that is protected by the First Amendment against an IIED claim.

I. RELEVANT FACTS OF CARPENTER V. WESTWOOD ONE

Tom Leykis hosted a four-hour national radio talk show, The Tom Leykis Show. ^[4] The program originated in California and was produced and distributed as a live radio show by Westwood One. ^[5] Between June 8 and July 24, 1998, Juneau AM radio station KJNO broadcast the show weekdays from two o'clock to six o'clock in the afternoon. ^[6]

The Tom Leykis Show commonly featured sex-related topics. ^[7] Karen Carpenter, a Juneau resident, first heard the show on July 20, 1998; its content concerned her. ^[8] Carpenter expressed her concerns to a member of the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly, as well as to some of KJNO's advertisers who ran ads during Leykis's show. ^[9] She also faxed a letter to KJNO stating that she found most of Leykis's show "very offensive" and unsuitable for children who might be listening. ^[10] Carpenter wrote that she would "do everything in [her] power to have the show taken off the air as soon as possible." ^[11] Someone at KJNO faxed a copy of Carpenter's letter, which showed her fax number, to The Tom Leykis Show in California. ^[12]

At about this same time, KJNO's station manager, Steve Rhyner, decided to take The Tom Leykis Show off the air because of complaints from advertisers. ^[13] The program aired its final broadcast in Juneau on July 24,1998. ^[14]

Leykis made a number of comments about KJNO's cancellation of his show, Carpenter's letter, and Karen Carpenter during his July 24 broadcast. ^[15] He described people who objected to his show as a "band of old prunes and old blue-hairs, nut cases and ... cretins." ^[16] He complained "I hate those-those old biddies who sit out there and have nothing better to do than to write in to radio stations," ^[17] and said that, "Maybe if this woman had gotten laid in the last fifty years, who writes into the station and started making all these waves, maybe she wouldn't be complaining so much. I'm not kidding." ^[18] Leykis read Carpenter's letter on the air and commented:

And it's signed, the woman who wrote the letter -it's signed:

Karen Carpenter. Well Karen, I have a little something that you could use right now. [Buzzing sound intended to simulate the sound of a vibrator.]

Sit on this, you old prune. Come on, get close to the radio. Get right on top of the speaker, baby. You moron. You jerk. You and your little band of nut cases out there, trying to decide what's going to be on the radio in Juneau, Alaska. You know, maybe you ought to go out and get laid once in a while, huh? [Buzzing sound.]

You cretin. Are your nipples getting hard yet, baby? Feel the power. You can't stop this show. Oh, you can stop Juneau, Alaska. But you can't stop me....

You and your stupid-your stupid church and your stupid religion, and you and your stupid god damned bunch of marauders. You morons. Jerks.

I'm enjoying this. I'm sporting wood right now, just thinking about it....

Oh, Karen Carpenter. Karen Carpenter wanted our show off the air. No, not that Karen Carpenter. But Karen, sit on it, baby. [Buzzing sound.]

Oh, yeah. See, if you got more of this, you wouldn't be writing complaint letters to the station. ^[19]

Later in the show, a Juneau caller attempted to broadcast Carpenter's home telephone and fax numbers, which were listed in the local telephone directory under "K.L. Carpenter." ^[20] The caller expressed the hope that people would "send [Carpenter] faxes." ^[21] Carpenter's telephone number was partially bleeped out. ^[22] Around this time Leykis also encouraged his listeners to make Carpenter's telephone "ring off the hook." ^[23] Later, a Juneau fan called Leykis to praise his show. ^[24] Leykis responded: "Well, we hate to lose you, but like I say, stay tuned, 'cause we're going to get back on in Juneau... . And we're going to make that woman's life a living hell." ^[25] According to trial testimony, this "living hell" comment was used repeatedly throughout the broadcast." ^[26]

Carpenter herself heard the first part of Leykis's broadcast and learned of other parts from friends. ^[27] She testified "that she felt humiliated and sexually violated." ^[28] She also testified that she received a telephone message "that repeated part of what Leykis had said about her" and that she "received several threatening faxes at her home." ^[29] Sometime later, Carpenter was "diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome and an anxiety disorder." ^[30]

II. LITIGATION HISTORY OF CARPENTER V. WESTWOOD ONE

Karen Carpenter filed suit in a Juneau superior court against Tom Leykis, Westwood One, KJNO, Alaska Broadcast Communications, Inc., and Steve Rhyner. ^[31] Carpenter alleged in her complaint that "Leykis's comments about her during his July 24, 1998 broadcast were defamatory, caused negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and placed her in a false light." ^[32] She also alleged that Leykis and Westwood...