[Note: This is an unusual episode of The Law for a couple of reasons. It focuses on a 1996 event recently turned into a major motion picture and D.K. spoke with fellow lawyer Annette Bybee in an appearance on her podcast, Annette Talks.]

The recent movie directed by Clint Eastwood, Richard Jewell, dramatizes the actual events surrounding a pipe bomb explosion during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. When I first saw the trailer for the movie, I was yelling at the screen “DON’T TALK TO THE POLICE, RICHARD! SHUT UP!” Fortunately, my yelling was internal. In this podcast, I discuss the constitutional issues raised by the movie and the actual events it portrays, including the Fifth Amendment protection of the right to remain silent and the First Amendment application to freedom of the press and defamation.

Thanks to Annette Bybee of AnnetteTalks.com for allowing me to use our conversation from my appearance on her show.

LINKS

The movie: Richard Jewell

From The Hollywood Reporter: The True Story of Richard Jewell