CHARLES SHERMAN BENSON, A MINOR, THROUGH HIS NEXT FRIEND AND FATHER, BENNY G. BENSON, PLAINTIFFS,
v.
FLORIDA PUBLISHING COMPANY, A CORPORATION, DEFENDANT
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The Florida Supreme Court answered a certified question regarding whether Florida Statute § 801.221, which prohibits publishing the names of minors charged with sex crimes, applies to a minor charged with capital rape. The Court held that the statute does not apply to capital offenses, leaving the defendant without statutory protection from name publication.
Florida Statute § 801.221 does not apply to persons charged with capital offenses. Therefore, the minor charged with capital rape received no statutory protection against name publication, and the second question regarding exemplary damages became moot.
[1] Florida Statute §801.221, which prohibits publishing the names of minors charged with sex crimes under the Child Molester Law, does not apply to persons charged with capi…
[2] Publication of the name and address of a minor charged with rape does not constitutionally give rise to a cause of action for invasion of privacy when the publication is…
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Establishes the procedure under which certified questions reach the Supreme Court
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA minor was charged with the capital offense of rape. A newspaper published the minor's name and address. The lower court certified questions regardin…
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This cause arises under Rule 4.6, Florida Appellate Rules, 32 F.S.A., governing certified questions from state courts. Rule 4.6 (a), provides:
“When it shall appear to a judge of the lower court that there is involved in any cause pending before him questions or propositions of law that are deter *198 minative of the cause and are without controlling precedent in this state and that instruction from the Court will facilitate the proper disposition of the cause, said judge, on his own motion or on motion of either party, may certify said question or proposition of law to the Court for instruction.” (e. s.)
The questions certified1 have to do with Florida Statutes § 801.221,2 F.S.A., a section of the Child Molester Law which prohibits publishing the names of minors charged with sex crimes under the Child Molester Law. The crime involved in the instant case is the capital offense of rape. Rape is not one of the enumerated crimes covered by the Child Molester Law.3 Therefore, petitioner here, charged with the capital offense of rape, is not entitled to any protection under Florida Statutes § 801.221, F.S.A.
Accordingly, our answer to both questions certified is as follows: Florida Statutes § 801.221, F.S.A., does not apply to persons charged with capital offenses.
ROBERTS, C. J., and ERVIN, CARLTON, ADKINS, McCAIN and DEKLE, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Beatty v. State, 332 So. 2d 365 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976)…be exceeding our authority to write into the Child Molester Act an offense which the legislature specifically chose to eliminate. To the extent we have any doubts, they are set at rest by the case of Benson v. Florida Publishing Company, Fla.1972, 262 So. 2d 196. There, a minor under the age of sixteen had brought a suit for invasion of privacy against a publishing company alleging that his name had been published as being charged with rape contrary to the provisions of Fla.Stat. § 801.221. This section pro…
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Fletcher v. Fla. Publ'g Co., 40 Fla. Supp. 1 (Duval Cty. Cir. Ct. 1974)…There was no allegation of falsity of the matters alleged to have been published by the defendant. See Cason v. Baskin (Fla. 1947) 30 So. 2d 635, 638; Jacova v. Southern Radio (Fla. 1955) 83 So. 2d 34, at 40; Benson v. Florida Publishing (Fla. 1971) 262 So. 2d 196, at 37 Fla. Supp. 157; Time v. Hill (1967) 385 U.S. 374; and Rosenbloom v. Metromedia (1971) 403 U.S. 29, at 43, 44, 48. Also, it is settled that one cannot recover for the alleged invasion of privacy of a deceased person, no matter how close the re…
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Benson v. Fla. Publ'g Co., 37 Fla. Supp. 157 (Duval Cty. Cir. Ct. 1972)…THE PUBLICATION AS AFORESAID COUPLED WITH COMPLETE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROVISIONS OF FLORIDA STATUTE 801.221 PERMIT RECOVERY OF EXEMPLARY DAMAGES? After briefs and oral argument, the Supreme Court of Florida on May 3, 1972, filed its opinion, 262 So. 2d 196, with all seven members of the court concurring, from which is quoted the answer given by the Supreme Court to the questions certified by this court — The questions certified have to do with Florida Statutes §801.221, a section of the Child Moleste…