Some Wyoming Legislators Want to Resurrect Privacy Bill and Send to Voters
By Jennifer E. RothmanNovember 19, 2015
The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports today that the Wyoming Legislature's Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivision Interim Committee voted to sponsor a bill that would allow voters to pass a privacy amendment to the state constitution. Such an amendment was rejected by the state Senate in January of this year. The proposed amendment is very general and does not specifically address the right of publicity. However, no court to date in Wyoming has decided whether a right to privacy exists in the state so this amendment would establish the existence of such a right. By doing so, it would likely also confirm the existence of the appropriation branch of the privacy torts and provide additional support for right of publicity and commercial misappropriation claims in Wyoming. The proposed bill does not provide any specific speech protections.