Mass communication law & ethics notes assignment

The gag order was appealed by the Nebraska Press Association Appellate Judge replaces the gag order with one of his own, which only prohibited the reporting of certain kinds of information. Revised order appealed again The Nebraska Supreme Court modified the order, prohibiting press from publishing the confession & other “ implicative facts,” and the press was ordered not to even mention that there was a confession. The U. S. Supreme Court would NOT rule out the possibility of all protective/gag order in the future. Extraordinary circumstance” might call for such an order, but there be sufficient evidence to reasonably conclude that: A gag order may be appropriate if there is sufficient evidence to reasonably other remedy is likely to mitigate the effects of pretrial publicity Closed Courtrooms Judges begin to bar the press AND the public from preliminary hearings, hearings on motion to suppress evidence & sometimes even trials. To protect a defendants right to a fair trial

To protect an individuals privacy To assure secrecy of information affecting national security To keep details of a police investigation confidential Preliminary Hearings When a case is reviewed by a Judge to determine whether there is enough evidence to Justify taking the case to trial Only the prosecution presents evidence Closing this hearing also protects the reputation of defendants who have been charged but are not held for trial because the hearing reveals the prosecutor has no evidence Why might news coverage of a preliminary hearing endanger the accused right to a fair trial?

Florida – 1981 Two police officers were charged with using their squad car & radios aiding in the burglary of restaurants Florida has rules allowing TV coverage of trials without a defendant’s consent. Much of the trial was videotaped and portions of it aired on TV The officers were convicted They appeal their convictions, saying coverage denied them a fair trial; the case goes to the U. S. Supreme Court The U. S. Supreme Court ruled against the convicted police officers The court says the presence of the TV cameras does not automatically violate a defendant’s right to a fair trial. How that his or her rights were violated in a specific case. While the United States Supreme Court did say there is no constitutional prohibition on cameras in the courtrooms… It did not say the broadcast media have any special right of access to the nation’s courts. The individual states are free to allow cameras in the courtroom if they so choose… And even then, if a defendant can show that the media coverage denied him r her a fair trial, then he or she is entitled too new trial.

Manslaughter’s Privilege The 6th amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the right to a fair trial, meaning the accused is supposed to get a complete, objective hearing on the issues of the case. This requires that both the prosecution and the defense have full access to all relevant evidence. Sometimes that includes material and information possessed by Journalists 1 . Notes 2. Audio/video recording 3. Photographs 4. Records 5. Names of sources it is generally accepted that anyone with information relevant to a case may be abounded to testify as a witness at certain government proceedings.