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37 Stetson L. Rev. 825 (2007-2008)
Bumfights and Copycat Crimes... Connecting the Dots: Negligent Publication or Protected Speech

handle is hein.journals/stet37 and id is 837 raw text is: BUMFIGHTS AND COPYCAT CRIMES... CONNECTING THE DOTS: NEGLIGENT PUBLICATION OR PROTECTED SPEECH? Terri Day* I. INTRODUCTION A man's tooth is extracted with a pair of pliers.1 A second man eats a frog.2 Still, another man's hair is intentionally set ablaze.3 These are not the sadistic human experiments performed on concentration camp inmates by Dr. Josef Mengele.4 Rather, they are real, videotaped events of homeless people engaged in dangerous and degrading acts for the price of a drink or a bottle of alcohol.5 For the producers and distributors of Bumfights,6 the * © 2008, Terri Day. All rights reserved. Associate Professor of Law, Barry Univer- sity Andreas School of Law. LL.M., Yale University, 1995; J.D., University of Florida, 1991; M.S.S.A., Case Western Reserve University, 1976; B.A., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1974. Many thanks to Professor Bruce Jacob for his support and encouragement; to my research assistant, Randa Maali; and my student, Jonathon Blevins, for educating me on pop culture. 1. See YouTube, Bumfights, http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bumfights &search=Search (accessed Apr. 8, 2008) (containing a searchable database of clips from the Bumfights video series). 2. Id. 3. Id. 4. Dr. Josef Mengele was a Nazi SS physician who performed human experiments on camp inmates at Auschwitz-Birkenau from 1943 through 1945. Gerald L. Posner, Mengele: The Complete Story (Cooper Square Press 2000) (providing a biography of the SS physi- cian); see also generally Michael Berenbaum, The World Must Know (Little, Brown & Co. 1993) (detailing the cruel medical experiments conducted by Dr. Mengele and other Nazi doctors). 5. See Greg Moran, Bumfights' Participants Get Thousands; Video's Producers Agree to Settlement, San Diego Union Trib. B3 (Apr. 7, 2006) (describing the real and brutal nature of Bumfights). 6. 60 Minutes, Bumfights Videos Inspired Joy-Killing (CBS Oct. 1, 2006) (TV broad.). Producers Ray Latticia and Ty Beeson, both aliases, owned rights to the videos in 2006. See Kate Kowsh, Vyuz Talks to Bumfights Creator Ryen McPherson, http://www.vyuz .com1022706_Bumfights.htm (Feb. 20, 2006) (explaining that much of the negative public- ity surrounding the videos is due to the marketing efforts of Ty Beeson). McPherson and his fellow filmmakers faced criminal charges stemming from the creation of Bumfights. Id. The San Diego, California Assistant District Attorney charged them with six felonies for

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