Ten Years After: Bartnicki v. Vopper as a Laboratory for First Amendment Advocacy and Analysis

Abstract

as otherwise specifically provided in tllis chapter, any person who ... (c) intentionally discloses, or endeavors to disclose, to any other person the contents of any wire, oml, or electronic communication, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of a wire, oml, or electronic communication in violation of this subsection. .. shall be punished. .. ."); Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, 18 PA. CONS. STAT. § 5703 (2010) ("Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a person is guilty of a felony of the third degree ifhe ... (2) intentionally discloses or endeavors to disclose to any other person the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication, or evidence derived therefrom, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of a wire, electronic or oral communication .... "). 3 Bartnicki, 532 U.S. at 535 ("[A] stranger's illegal conduct does not suffice to remove the First Amendment shield from speech about a matter of public concern.").