Maracich v. Spears, No. 12-25; U.S. Supreme Court; opinion by Kennedy, J.; dissent by Ginsburg, J.; decided June 17, 2013. On certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit,
Respondent attorneys submitted several state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the South Carolina DMV, seeking names and addresses of thousands of individuals in order to solicit clients for a lawsuit they had pending against several South Carolina car dealerships for violation of a state law that protects car purchasers from dealership actions that are "arbitrary, in bad faith, or unconscionable." Using the personal information provided by the DMV, respondents sent more than 34,000 car purchasers letters, which were headed "ADVERTISING MATERIAL," explained the lawsuit, and asked recipients to return an enclosed reply card if they wanted to participate in the case. Petitioners, South Carolina residents, sued respondents for violating the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994 (DPPA) by obtaining, disclosing and using petitioners' personal information from motor vehicle records for bulk solicitation without their express consent.
