Who Can't Have What

Most of the U.S. litigation that makes news involves the triumphant righting of a wrong or the enviable winning of a large cash verdict. In fact, though, U.S. courts spend much of their time holding back a flood of questionable claims. As a result, they often seem mainly to be telling Americans what the limits of the law are--in short, who can't have what. Some current examples:

>> A prisoner has no right of privacy. Without his knowledge, convicted Robber Harold Travers' parole hearing at Connecticut's Somers State Prison was secretly filmed and recorded by Hartford's WTIC-TV for a documentary on prison life. Though his face and name were not revealed, Travers sought $50,000 damages from the station and state officials for invasion of privacy. The facts might indeed have entitled a "full-fledged citizen" to sue, ruled U.S. District Judge M. Joseph Blumenfeld. But "no actionable invasion occurs if the subject of such publicity is a prisoner. A prisoner becomes a public figure by virtue of his crime and subsequent trial."

>> A woman teacher has no right to compensation for jury duty--even though men teachers do. New York City's board of education refused to pay Teacher Muriel Goldblatt the difference between her jury pay and what she would have earned had she not been absent from the classroom. Since men teachers get such compensation, Mrs. Goldblatt sued the board. Sorry, ruled Civil Court Judge George Starke. While men teachers must serve when called, New York exempts women from jury duty. Thus women teachers serve only by choice, and are not entitled to pay for teaching when they volunteer not to be in class.

>> A Communist cannot serve aboard a U.S. merchant ship. When ex-Seaman Joseph C. McBride sought to validate his mariner's papers in order to get a job, the Coast Guard learned that he had been an active Communist Party member for at least twelve years. After two hearings, the Coast Guard denied McBride's application because it was not satisfied that his "presence on board a merchant vessel of the U.S. would not be inimical to the security of the U.S." Claiming denial of due process, McBride argued in Federal Court that there was absolutely no evidence that he was even likely to engage in espionage or sabotage. Nevertheless, none of McBride's constitutional rights were infringed, ruled the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Even though a man is only a potential security risk, there is "nothing unreasonable" in barring him from jobs that are "vital" to national defense.

>> A suspect cannot suppress evidence just because a search warrant is not served on him personally. Armed with a valid warrant, Nashville detectives set out to search Joseph M. Calvert's house for some stolen rare coins. Calvert was not at home, so the detectives simply walked in, found some incriminating coins and left a copy of the warrant. Refusing to bar the evidence, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that police did not need to actually present a warrant to the subject of their search. In general, police may forcibly enter a house to execute a valid warrant after announcing themselves and being refused admittance. In Calvert's case, the court held that a suspect's absence may be simply another attempt to refuse admittance, and thus permits police to break in without service.

>> An injured student cannot sue a public school district. Hurt during a required high school wrestling class, Terry Lee Smith filed a $35,000 damage suit against his Ray town, Mo., school district. By barring the suit, the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the doctrine of "sovereign immunity," which is rooted in the ancient adage that "the king can do no wrong." Thus, no American Government or its political subdivisions, including school districts, can be sued without its specific consent. Though some do consent, most states insist that school immunity is necessary to prevent public funds from being diverted to private plaintiffs. Urged to abolish immunity by judicial decree, the Missouri court balked on the ground that such decisions in other states have created legal "chaos." In Missouri, said the court, Terry Smith and other students will simply have to pay their own medical bills until the state legislature changes the rules.

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