Snepp v. United States

444 U.S. 507 (1980)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Snepp (D), a former CIA agent, published a book regarding CIA activities in South Vietnam. D's employment with the CIA involved an extremely high degree of trust. In the opening sentence of the agreement that he signed, D explicitly recognized that he was entering a trust relationship. The trust agreement specifically imposed the obligation not to publish any information relating to the Agency without submitting the information for clearance. D deliberately and surreptitiously violated his obligation to submit all material for prepublication review. The Government (P) sought an injunction prohibiting future breaches of contract by D and a constructive trust on all of D's profits from the book. The district court held that D willfully, deliberately and surreptitiously breached the agreement, and granted P relief. The court also found that D deliberately misled CIA officials into believing that he would seek prepublication clearance. The court determined that the book caused the U.S. irreparable harm and loss. The court of appeals upheld the injunction but did not impose a constructive trust because D was only obligated to not divulge classified material. The book contained no classified information and D certainly had a First Amendment right to publish unclassified material. It limited recovery to nominal damages and punitive damages if P could prove tortious conduct. D filed for certiorari, and P cross-petitioned from the denial of a constructive trust.