Also known as: matter of public interest · public interest matters · public interest · matters of public concern
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Topics or issues that affect the welfare or concerns of the community as a whole.
After a series of unsolved arsons devastated several neighborhoods, the U.S. Attorney asked the district court to summon a grand jury. The court found that the public interest required additional investigative resources and ordered sixteen qualified persons summoned to serve. The grand jury convened and began hearing testimony the following week.
Matthew Martinez represented an indigent tenant through a nonprofit legal services organization. After the client lost housing, Martinez gave her a small sum for rent and groceries. He neither promised the gift before retention nor sought reimbursement from the client or her family.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Majestic Construction sought to enjoin a competitor from using a disputed access road. The court considered the public interest in continued construction of affordable housing and denied the injunction, finding that halting work would delay needed units without clear proof of irreparable harm to the plaintiff.
Members of a church group stood on public land near a military funeral and displayed signs expressing moral opposition to homosexuality in the armed forces. The family sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress. The court held the speech addressed matters of public concern and dismissed the claim absent additional unprotected conduct.
Mustafa Mahmoud assigned patent rights to his former employer under a settlement agreement. A later invention raised a question whether the assignment covered improvements. The court adopted the reading that excluded future improvements because it better served the public interest in encouraging new invention.
A grand jury investigating complex financial crimes neared the end of its eighteen-month term. The court determined that an extension served the public interest in completing the inquiry and granted a six-month continuation so the panel could return additional indictments.
Speech on matters of public concern receives special First Amendment protection even when it causes severe emotional distress. Peaceful picketing accompanied by offensive signs on public land is protected, and tort liability for intentional infliction of emotional distress is barred absent additional unprotected conduct.
A court must order one or more grand juries summoned when the public interest so requires. A grand jury may serve more than eighteen months only if the court determines that an extension is in the public interest and grants no more than a six-month extension except as otherwise provided by statute.
In choosing among reasonable meanings of a promise or agreement, a meaning that serves the public interest is generally preferred. The rule applies only to agreements that affect a public interest and rests on considerations of public policy rather than the probable intention of the parties.
The public interest is one of the factors a court considers in determining the appropriateness of injunctive relief against tortious conduct. The court balances this factor against the consequences the relief may have on the defendant and the probability that the plaintiff will succeed on the merits.
…the communication must show actual malice or go remediless. This privilege extends to a great variety of subjects, and includes matters of public concern, public men, and candidates for office." 78 Kan., at 723, 98 P., at 285. Such a privilege for criticism of official conduct is appropriately analogous to the protection accorded a public…