The Evolution of Electronic Court Coverage Essay -- Trial Justice Expo

The Evolution of Electronic Court Coverage A trial is a public event. What transpires in the court room is public property...There is no special perquisite of the judiciary which enables it, as distinguished from other institutions of democratic government, to suppress, edit, or censor events which transpire in proceedings before it.† Justice William O. Douglas, 19471 â€Å"Picture taking in the courtroom is more than disconcerting. It does not comport with the traditional notions of a fair trial. A man on trial for his life or liberty needs protection from the mob. Mobs are not interested in the administration of justice. They have base appetites to satisfy.† Justice William O. Douglas, 19602 These seemingly contradictory words from one of the most ardent First Amendment absolutists to ever serve on the United States Supreme Court stand as a testament to the central conflict which has for so long characterized the debate over press coverage in the nation’s courtrooms. In the battle for preeminence, which Amendment wins: the First or the Sixth? Does the freedom of the press and the public’s right for information outweigh the constitutional guarantee of a fair trial through due process? And in an era of mass communication, where the capabilities of technology are matched only by the pervasiveness of the message it delivers, how and where is the line ultimately drawn? Especially in the age of O.J. Simpson and Scott Peterson, of Michael... ...o the discovery of two additional court cases, Sheppard v. Maxwell 384 US 333 (1966) and Florida v. Zamora 422 So. 2d 325 (1982), as well the two major American Bar Association regulations relating to subject, Canons 35 and 3A(7). Information regarding current federal and state-by-state courtroom standards were found at the Radio-Television News Directors Association website (www.rtnda.org), the Indiana State Court website (www.in.gov/judiciary), and an archived statement made in 2000 by Third Circuit Court Justice Edward R. Becker to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary (judiciary.senate.gov/oldsite/962000_erb.htm). Also helpful were the American Bar Association website (www.abanet.org) and two sources for quotations from former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas: Craig v. Harney 331 U.S. 367 (1947) and 46 American Bar Association Journal 840 (1960). The Evolution of Electronic Court Coverage Essay -- Trial Justice Expo The Evolution of Electronic Court Coverage A trial is a public event. What transpires in the court room is public property...There is no special perquisite of the judiciary which enables it, as distinguished from other institutions of democratic government, to suppress, edit, or censor events which transpire in proceedings before it.† Justice William O. Douglas, 19471 â€Å"Picture taking in the courtroom is more than disconcerting. It does not comport with the traditional notions of a fair trial. A man on trial for his life or liberty needs protection from the mob. Mobs are not interested in the administration of justice. They have base appetites to satisfy.† Justice William O. Douglas, 19602 These seemingly contradictory words from one of the most ardent First Amendment absolutists to ever serve on the United States Supreme Court stand as a testament to the central conflict which has for so long characterized the debate over press coverage in the nation’s courtrooms. In the battle for preeminence, which Amendment wins: the First or the Sixth? Does the freedom of the press and the public’s right for information outweigh the constitutional guarantee of a fair trial through due process? And in an era of mass communication, where the capabilities of technology are matched only by the pervasiveness of the message it delivers, how and where is the line ultimately drawn? Especially in the age of O.J. Simpson and Scott Peterson, of Michael... ...o the discovery of two additional court cases, Sheppard v. Maxwell 384 US 333 (1966) and Florida v. Zamora 422 So. 2d 325 (1982), as well the two major American Bar Association regulations relating to subject, Canons 35 and 3A(7). Information regarding current federal and state-by-state courtroom standards were found at the Radio-Television News Directors Association website (www.rtnda.org), the Indiana State Court website (www.in.gov/judiciary), and an archived statement made in 2000 by Third Circuit Court Justice Edward R. Becker to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary (judiciary.senate.gov/oldsite/962000_erb.htm). Also helpful were the American Bar Association website (www.abanet.org) and two sources for quotations from former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas: Craig v. Harney 331 U.S. 367 (1947) and 46 American Bar Association Journal 840 (1960).