Project Veritas v. Michael Schmidt

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

PROJECT VERITAS; PROJECT No. 22-35271

VERITAS ACTION FUND,

D.C. No. 3:20-cv- Plaintiffs-Appellants, 01435-MO

v.

OPINION

MICHAEL SCHMIDT, in his official capacity as Multnomah County District Attorney; ELLEN ROSENBLUM, in her official capacity as Oregon Attorney General,

Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon Michael W. Mosman, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted En Banc June 25, 2024 Seattle, Washington

Filed January 7, 2025

Before: Mary H. Murguia, Chief Judge, and Kim McLane Wardlaw, Morgan Christen, Mark J. Bennett, Daniel P. Collins, Kenneth K. Lee, Jennifer Sung, Gabriel P. Sanchez, Roopali H. Desai, Anthony D. Johnstone and Ana de Alba, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Christen; Concurrence by Judge Bennett; Dissent by Judge Lee

SUMMARY *

First Amendment

The en banc court affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a complaint brought by Project Veritas, a nonprofit media organization engaged almost exclusively in undercover journalism, alleging that Oregon’s conversational privacy statute violates…