Sara Jane Moore died September 24 at the age of 95. Readers may justifiably be asking, “Who?”
Moore attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford in San Francisco on Sept. 22, 1975. Moore aimed at President Ford in hopes of triggering a revolution. Both the assassination and the revolution failed largely because a former Marine named Oliver Sipple hit Moore’s hand as she was pulling the trigger, deflecting the bullet. But this was not the end of the story, merely the beginning.
In reporting on the events, several news outlets reported that Sipple was an active member of San Fransico’s thriving gay community. That may not seem like a big deal in 2025, but times were different 50 years ago. Sipple had not come out to his immediate family, who learned about his sexual orientation from reading the news accounts.
Sipple filed an invasion of privacy suit against the San Fransico Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times. Sipple claimed that as a result of the news accounts, he was abandoned by his family and exposed to contempt and ridicule, causing him great mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation. Sipple claimed the newspapers published private details regarding his life without his consent.
Both newspapers filed for summary judgment. In its ruling on the motions, the court set out the elements of an invasion of privacy claim based on publishing private facts. The court noted that the disclosure of the private facts must be a public disclosure. Second, the facts disclosed must be private facts and not public ones. Third, the matter made public must be one which would be offensive and objectionable to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities.
The court also noted that, “Even a tortious invasion of privacy is exempt from liability if the publication of private facts is truthful and newsworthy.” This statement of the law doomed Sipple’s case for two reasons.
First, in the court’s view, Sipple’s sexual orientation wasn’t all that private. According to the court, “[t]he undisputed facts reveal that prior to the publication of the newspaper articles in question [Sipple’s] homosexual orientation and participation in gay community activities had been known by hundreds of people in a variety of cities, including New York, Dallas, Houston, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. . . and that his homosexual association and name had been reported in gay magazines (such as Data Boy, Pacific Coast Times, Male Express, etc.) several times before the publications in question. In fact, [Sipple] quite candidly conceded that he did not make a secret of his being a homosexual and that if anyone would ask, he would frankly admit that he was gay. In short, since [Sipple’s] sexual orientation was already in public domain and since the articles in question did no more than to give further publicity to matters which [Sipple] left open to the eye of the public. . .” For this reason, the court granted the summary judgment motions.
The court also noted that in the context of the articles, Sipple’s sexual orientation was newsworthy. Apparently, President Ford was slow to recognize Sipple’s heroism, and some attributed that to Sipple’s homosexuality. Also, the news outlets noted that as a former Marine, Sipple defied the then-popular myth that gay men were effeminate. As the court noted, “the record shows that the publications were not motivated by a morbid and sensational prying into appellant’s private life but rather were prompted by legitimate political considerations, i.e., to dispel the false public opinion that gays were timid, weak and unheroic figures and to raise the equally important political question whether the President of the United States entertained a discriminatory attitude or bias against a minority group such as homosexuals.” On this basis, the court granted summary judgment.
Sadly, unlike Moore, Sipple only lived to age 47, dying of natural causes in February 1989. Before his death, he suffered from schizophrenia and alcoholism. Most of the time, I’m happy when a court gets a case right. This time, not so much.
Jack Greiner is a partner at Faruki PLL law firm in Cincinnati. He represents Enquirer Media in First Amendment and media issues.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Strictly Legal | Moore’s attempted assassination led to an invasion of Sipple’s privacy
Reporting by Jack Greiner / Cincinnati Enquirer
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