# Since when can a private citizen put a "gag order" on another person?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307 "2009-02-17T19:20:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dripping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dripping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dripping)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/1 "2009-02-17T19:20:03Z")
Regarding the whole Nadya Suleman Octuplets thing. Several news sources are blithely printing the “fact” that the Octomom’s mother has been “gagged” or been hit with a “gag order”. Huh? Since when can a private citizen issue a “gag order” against another private citizen? Um, don’t we have something called “free speech” in this country? [Link](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2009/02/radaronlinecom.html) \*Joann Killeen, Nadya Suleman’s publicist, says that RadarOnline gave Angela Suleman $40,000 for the exclusive video chat. OK, now it’s really getting ugly. And greedy! "I\*\* had to put a gag \*_on Nadya’s mother, who sold her out to RadarOnline," she told LA Weekly. “They paid her $40,000 to sell [Nadya] out, and she can’t talk about her daughter for three months.”_ AND [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/13/octuplet-mom-updates-chur\_n\_166737.html](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/13/octuplet-mom-updates-chur_n_166737.html) _Nadya has reportedly **put a gag order** on her mother Angela, with whom she has lived and who has cared for her six older children, after Angela accepted money for a videotaped interview._ ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/2 "2009-02-17T19:34:21Z")
They seem to have paid for her silence, the same way a famous person’s ex-spouse may get an extra-generous divorce settlement in exchange for not spilling the beans on the relationship. Otherwise, if somebody has been spreading scandalous rumors about you, I suppose you can have your lawyer send him or her a cease-and-desist letter. But just for telling the truth about something that is not a matter of national security? No, you should be covered by free speech for most things. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/3 "2009-02-17T19:42:54Z")
There is a common law of privacy (whose status is almost unknowable) which often gets lost because most of these issues arise in the case of public figures. I assume it’s theoretically possible to obtain a preliminary injunction pursuant to claims of misappropriation of identity, putting the complainant in a “false light” in the eyes of the public, disclosing private facts, or intruding upon solitude. ---
**Author:** ![Dripping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dripping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dripping)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/4 "2009-02-17T20:04:15Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > They seem to have paid for her silence, Wait, so first she gets paid 40k for talking, then she gets paid even more for not talking? In any case, agreeing to refrain from speaking about a certain topic in exchange for money is a mutually agreed-upon contract. It is NOT a “gag order”. ---
**Author:** ![Dripping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dripping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dripping)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/5 "2009-02-17T23:45:25Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > But just for telling the truth about something that is not a matter of national security? No, you should be covered by free speech for most things. OK, and of course I know the stupid media will just repeat anything. But really, WTF? Why not just say that Nadya has convinced her mother to stop talking to the press? Instead, her (ex) publicist actually says “I had to put a gag on her”. Again, if a private citizen cannot issue a “gag order” like a judge can in a criminal trial, why on earth say this? You’d think a publicist would know better. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/6 "2009-02-18T00:12:22Z")
Why wouldn’t the publicist phrase it that way, if they could get away with it? Surely, it looks better to say “She [the person the publicist wants to keep quiet] was running her mouth in ways she shouldn’t have and thus got slapped with a gag order” than to say “We paid her hush money so she wouldn’t say things embarrassing to us”? ---
**Author:** ![Dripping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dripping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dripping)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/7 "2009-02-18T18:06:46Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Why wouldn’t the publicist phrase it that way, if they could get away with it? Surely, it looks better to say “She [the person the publicist wants to keep quiet] was running her mouth in ways she shouldn’t have and thus got slapped with a gag order” than to say “We paid her hush money so she wouldn’t say things embarrassing to us”? I just don’t see how “we had to gag her to prevent her saying horrible things” is better than “Nadya’s mother has agreed not to speak to the press any more”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/8 "2009-02-18T18:18:33Z")
I don’t think anyone really knows what the publicist meant by “gag.” It seems kind of pointless to argue about it. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/9 "2009-02-18T18:25:23Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > There is a common law of privacy (whose status is almost unknowable) which often gets lost because most of these issues arise in the case of public figures. I assume it’s theoretically possible to obtain a preliminary injunction pursuant to claims of misappropriation of identity, putting the complainant in a “false light” in the eyes of the public, disclosing private facts, or intruding upon solitude. in this case (the eight babies), any such court order would undoubtedly be unconsitutional - i.e., [[Prior restraint - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_restraint)](prior restraint) ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/10 "2009-02-18T18:28:40Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > in this case (the eight babies), any such court order would undoubtedly be unconsitutional - i.e., [[Prior restraint - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_restraint)](prior restraint) should be a link to the wikipedia entry on prior restraint, which is what such a “gag” order would be a prior restraint, a form of censorship extremely disfavored by Amercian courts. I doubt such a gag order has been entered and in what proceeding would it have been entered? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/11 "2009-02-18T18:34:45Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > There is a common law of privacy (whose status is almost unknowable) which often gets lost because most of these issues arise in the case of public figures. I assume it’s theoretically possible to obtain a preliminary injunction pursuant to claims of misappropriation of identity, putting the complainant in a “false light” in the eyes of the public, disclosing private facts, or intruding upon solitude. > [@](#): > > Any prior restraint on expression comes to this Court with a “heavy presumption” against its constitutional validity. Carroll v. Princess Anne, 393 U.S. 175, 181 (1968); Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan, 372 U.S. 58, 70 (1963). Respondent thus carries a heavy burden of showing justification for the imposition of such a restraint. He has not met that burden. No prior decisions support the claim that the interest of an individual in being free from public criticism of his business practices in pamphlets or leaflets warrants use of the injunctive power of a court. Designating the conduct as an invasion of privacy, the apparent basis for the injunction here, is not sufficient to support an injunction against peaceful distribution of informational literature of the nature revealed by this record. [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=402&invol=415](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=402&invol=415) I’d say it’s an easier case if we’re talking about intrusion than the other privacy torts (which are more informational). Still, I won’t deny that it’s theoretically possible. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/12 "2009-02-18T19:49:56Z")
I should have thought that commercial misappropriation would be the easiest case. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-when-can-a-private-citizen-put-a-gag-order-on-another-person/486307/13 "2009-02-18T20:12:54Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I should have thought that commercial misappropriation would be the easiest case. A good point. You might be right about that.