Reverend W. Eugene Scott, Phd. v. Joel Rosenberg

Scott, the president and pastor of Faith Center Church (the church), brought this action for injunctive relief and for actual and punitive damages against five present and former officers and employees (the government employees) of the Federal Communications Commission (the FCC), alleging that they violated his first amendment rights during an investigation of the church’s television and radio stations. The district court granted summary judgment for the government employees. We affirm.

I

Diederich, a former employee of one of the church’s television stations, sent a letter to the FCC in which he alleged that Scott had solicited during broadcasts and subsequently received funds for projects which were never undertaken. He also stated his belief that Scott was using the stations for his personal gain. In response to that letter, the FCC instituted an investigation of the church’s California television and radio stations. The FCC conducted a number of interviews during which further allegations were made: that the stations had failed to log paid religious programming as commercial broadcasting, that Scott had misstated the amount of his personal remuneration during broadcast…