Pattakos communication with a media outlet about a pending sexual abuse cover-up suit was eventually deemed protected speech under the First Amendment. Pattakos was originally ordered to pay $11,000 in legal fees, but a three-judge panel in the Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals held that penalty was inappropriate.
They ruled the information provided to the media outlet was public. A coalition of media organizations argued allowing sanctions against Pattakos risked inhibiting the public’s access to information about the judicial system in the future.