Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart
Encyclopedia
Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart, 427 U.S. 539 (1976), was a landmark Supreme Court of the United States
decision in which the Court held unconstitutional prior restraint
s on media coverage during criminal trials.
formulated the principle that the concept of prior restraint
is largely unconstitutional
. The case also put forth the opinion that it is the duty of the government to satisfy an extreme explanation in order to satisfy usage of prior restraint against the press. Prior to the 1976 ruling by the Supreme Court, lower courts in the United States had initiated a practice of barring intense levels of reporting on certain issues in criminal matters; media coverage of such rulings referred to them as gag order
s.
in 1975 in Sutherland, Nebraska
, six people in a family were killed. Police discovered the bodies of the six individuals from the family of Henry Kellie on October 18, 1975. At the time of the incident there were 850 residents living in Sutherland, Nebraska. After the defendant Erwin Charles Simants was detained by law enforcement, there was a high level of media coverage of the criminal justice proceedings. Police talked to media who had traveled to the location of the incident, and informed them of descriptive characteristics of the suspect. After surrendering to the police, Simants had an arraignment
in Lincoln County Court in Lincoln County, Nebraska
on October 19, 1975.
Both the attorney for the defendant, in addition to the prosecutor handling the case, requested the state court system in Nebraska to reduce the intensity of the reporting on the incident due to a concern over neutral jury selection
. Simants had given law enforcement a confession
during the course of the case. After the requests by the attorneys for the defense and the prosecution, the County Court (subsequently affirmed and changed by the Nebraska Supreme Court
) ruled media coverage would be barred from information "strongly implicative" of the defendant, in addition to the confession. The ruling by the court took into account the Nebraska Bar-Press Guidelines. After a challenge of the ruling by a group of representatives of the press, the trial court judge in the case declined to remove the order, writing, "because of the nature of the crimes charged in the complaint that there is a clear and present danger that pre-trial publicity could impinge upon the defendant's right to a fair trial."
Warren E. Burger
wrote the opinion of the court. Burger wrote, "prior restraints on speech and publication are the most serious and least tolerable infringement on First Amendment Rights." The court ruled this was particularly at issue when dealing with "communication of news and commentary on current events." According to the ruling, it was inappropriate to bar media reporting on a criminal case prior to the trial itself, except in matters where a "clear and present danger
" existed that would impede the process of a fair trial
. The court characterized the press as "the handmaiden of effective judicial administration, especially in the criminal" process.
Burger noted, "The press does not simply publish information about trials but guards against the miscarriage of justice by subjecting the police, prosecutors, and judicial processes to extensive public scrutiny and criticism." The court commented on the action of the trial court's order, which had delayed the release of information from the press to the public, writing that prompt reporting is needed if "press coverage is to fulfill its traditional function of bringing news to the public promptly". The decision questioned whether or not it was allowable for the role of government to "insinuate itself into the editorial rooms of this Nation's press".
The court noted that the trial court in the case could have availed itself of other means in order to ensure the process of a fair trial, including: moving the location of the trial to a "a place less exposed to the intense publicity", delaying the criminal proceedings until after media attention had died down, querying jurors to make certain they are impartial, issue instructions to the jury telling them to only consider the evidence presented in the trial, and sequester the jury during the proceedings. Burger critically analyzed whether the trial court would even be able to maintain the status of its prior restraint order, external to its specific jurisdictional locale. The court compared the potential harm of press reporting versus the alternative in its absence – rumor
s spread among individuals in the town, "One can only speculate on the accuracy of such reports, given the generative propensities of such rumors, they could well be more damaging than reasonably accurate news accounts." The court concluded, "But plainly a whole community cannot be restrained from discussing a subject intimately affecting life within it."
Anthony Lewis
commented on the outcome of the case, in his 2007 book Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment, writing: "... Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart, was a great victory for the press. If a bar on publishing a confession was wrong in so aggravated a situation — a gruesome multiple murder in a small town — it was hard to see when one would be permissible." Lewis noted, "And in fact, none was sustained on appeal after that." Paul Siegel noted in his 2007 book Cases in Communication Law, "There is an unavoidable tension between jurors' argued privacy rights and the right of the accused to be judged by impartial peers." Siegel pointed out, "Chief Justice Burger emphasizes that the juror selection process has traditionally been considered a public event and that this opennesss serves important societal functions."
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
decision in which the Court held unconstitutional prior restraint
Prior restraint
Prior restraint or prior censorship is censorship in which certain material may not be published or communicated, rather than not prohibiting publication but making the publisher answerable for what is made known...
s on media coverage during criminal trials.
Background
Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart involved a debate over whether or not the press may be prevented from releasing through publication information which was seen to be "implicative of guilt" related to the defendant. The 1971 ruling in the Supreme Court case New York Times Co. v. United StatesNew York Times Co. v. United States
New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 , was a United States Supreme Court per curiam decision. The ruling made it possible for the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censure.President Richard Nixon had...
formulated the principle that the concept of prior restraint
Prior restraint
Prior restraint or prior censorship is censorship in which certain material may not be published or communicated, rather than not prohibiting publication but making the publisher answerable for what is made known...
is largely unconstitutional
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
. The case also put forth the opinion that it is the duty of the government to satisfy an extreme explanation in order to satisfy usage of prior restraint against the press. Prior to the 1976 ruling by the Supreme Court, lower courts in the United States had initiated a practice of barring intense levels of reporting on certain issues in criminal matters; media coverage of such rulings referred to them as gag order
Gag order
A gag order is an order, sometimes a legal order by a court or government, other times a private order by an employer or other institution, restricting information or comment from being made public.Gag orders are often used against participants involved in a lawsuit or criminal trial...
s.
Prior litigation
In relation to a sexual assaultSexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
in 1975 in Sutherland, Nebraska
Sutherland, Nebraska
Sutherland is a village in Lincoln County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the North Platte, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,129 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Sutherland is located at ....
, six people in a family were killed. Police discovered the bodies of the six individuals from the family of Henry Kellie on October 18, 1975. At the time of the incident there were 850 residents living in Sutherland, Nebraska. After the defendant Erwin Charles Simants was detained by law enforcement, there was a high level of media coverage of the criminal justice proceedings. Police talked to media who had traveled to the location of the incident, and informed them of descriptive characteristics of the suspect. After surrendering to the police, Simants had an arraignment
Arraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
in Lincoln County Court in Lincoln County, Nebraska
Lincoln County, Nebraska
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 34,632 people, 14,076 households, and 9,444 families residing in the county. The population density was 14 people per square mile . There are 15,438 housing units in Lincoln....
on October 19, 1975.
Both the attorney for the defendant, in addition to the prosecutor handling the case, requested the state court system in Nebraska to reduce the intensity of the reporting on the incident due to a concern over neutral jury selection
Jury selection
Jury selection are many methods used to choose the people who will serve on a trial jury. The jury pool is first selected from among the community using a reasonably random method. The prospective jurors are then questioned in court by the judge and/or attorneys...
. Simants had given law enforcement a confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
during the course of the case. After the requests by the attorneys for the defense and the prosecution, the County Court (subsequently affirmed and changed by the Nebraska Supreme Court
Nebraska Supreme Court
The Nebraska Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. Each Justice is initially appointed by the Governor of Nebraska; using the Missouri Plan, each Justice is then subject to a retention vote for additional...
) ruled media coverage would be barred from information "strongly implicative" of the defendant, in addition to the confession. The ruling by the court took into account the Nebraska Bar-Press Guidelines. After a challenge of the ruling by a group of representatives of the press, the trial court judge in the case declined to remove the order, writing, "because of the nature of the crimes charged in the complaint that there is a clear and present danger that pre-trial publicity could impinge upon the defendant's right to a fair trial."
Decision
Chief Justice of the United StatesChief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
Warren E. Burger
Warren E. Burger
Warren Earl Burger was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Although Burger had conservative leanings, the U.S...
wrote the opinion of the court. Burger wrote, "prior restraints on speech and publication are the most serious and least tolerable infringement on First Amendment Rights." The court ruled this was particularly at issue when dealing with "communication of news and commentary on current events." According to the ruling, it was inappropriate to bar media reporting on a criminal case prior to the trial itself, except in matters where a "clear and present danger
Clear and present danger
Clear and present danger was a term used by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in the unanimous opinion for the case Schenck v. United States, concerning the ability of the government to regulate speech against the draft during World War I:...
" existed that would impede the process of a fair trial
Fair Trial
Fair Trial was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire. He was bred and raced by John Arthur Dewar who also bred and raced Tudor Minstrel....
. The court characterized the press as "the handmaiden of effective judicial administration, especially in the criminal" process.
Burger noted, "The press does not simply publish information about trials but guards against the miscarriage of justice by subjecting the police, prosecutors, and judicial processes to extensive public scrutiny and criticism." The court commented on the action of the trial court's order, which had delayed the release of information from the press to the public, writing that prompt reporting is needed if "press coverage is to fulfill its traditional function of bringing news to the public promptly". The decision questioned whether or not it was allowable for the role of government to "insinuate itself into the editorial rooms of this Nation's press".
The court noted that the trial court in the case could have availed itself of other means in order to ensure the process of a fair trial, including: moving the location of the trial to a "a place less exposed to the intense publicity", delaying the criminal proceedings until after media attention had died down, querying jurors to make certain they are impartial, issue instructions to the jury telling them to only consider the evidence presented in the trial, and sequester the jury during the proceedings. Burger critically analyzed whether the trial court would even be able to maintain the status of its prior restraint order, external to its specific jurisdictional locale. The court compared the potential harm of press reporting versus the alternative in its absence – rumor
Rumor
A rumor or rumour is often viewed as "an unverified account or explanation of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public concern" However, a review of the research on rumor conducted by Pendleton in 1998 found that research across sociology,...
s spread among individuals in the town, "One can only speculate on the accuracy of such reports, given the generative propensities of such rumors, they could well be more damaging than reasonably accurate news accounts." The court concluded, "But plainly a whole community cannot be restrained from discussing a subject intimately affecting life within it."
Analysis
In their 2006 work Contemporary Supreme Court Cases: Landmark Decisions Since Roe v. Wade, authors Donald E. Lively and Russell L. Weaver wrote, "Nebraska Press is an important decision because it reaffirms the nation's commitment to free speech, and the general impermissibility of prior restraints." Lively and Weaver concluded, "While the Court was sensitive to the important governmental interest in ensuring that criminal defendants receive fair trials, untainted by the threat of excessive and prejudicial publicity, the Court concluded that a trial court has other means, besides prior restraints, for ensuring the right to a fair trial."Anthony Lewis
Anthony Lewis
Anthony Lewis is a prominent liberal intellectual, writing for The New York Times op-ed page and The New York Review of Books, among other publications. He was previously a columnist for the Times . Before that he was London bureau chief , Washington, D.C...
commented on the outcome of the case, in his 2007 book Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment, writing: "... Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart, was a great victory for the press. If a bar on publishing a confession was wrong in so aggravated a situation — a gruesome multiple murder in a small town — it was hard to see when one would be permissible." Lewis noted, "And in fact, none was sustained on appeal after that." Paul Siegel noted in his 2007 book Cases in Communication Law, "There is an unavoidable tension between jurors' argued privacy rights and the right of the accused to be judged by impartial peers." Siegel pointed out, "Chief Justice Burger emphasizes that the juror selection process has traditionally been considered a public event and that this opennesss serves important societal functions."
See also
- Alien and Sedition ActsAlien and Sedition ActsThe Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the 5th United States Congress in the aftermath of the French Revolution's reign of terror and during an undeclared naval war with France, later known as the Quasi-War. They were signed into law by President John Adams...
- Civil liberties in the United States
- Censorship in the United StatesCensorship in the United StatesIn general, censorship in the United States, which involves the suppression of speech or other public communication, raises issues of freedom of speech, which is constitutionally protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution....
- Freedom of speech in the United StatesFreedom of speech in the United StatesFreedom of speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by many state constitutions and state and federal laws, with the exception of obscenity, defamation, incitement to riot, and fighting words, as well as harassment, privileged...
- List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Burger Court
- List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 427
- Media transparencyMedia transparencyMedia transparency is the concept of determining how and why information is conveyed through various means.As used in the humanities,the topic of media transparency implies openness and accountability...
- Tory v. CochranTory v. CochranTory v. Cochran, 544 U.S. 734 , is a United States Supreme Court case involving libel. The case began in California with Johnnie Cochran, the famed attorney who represented O.J. Simpson, suing his former client Ulysses Tory for libel and invasion of privacy...
- Westmoreland v. CBSWestmoreland v. CBSWestmoreland v. CBS was a $120 million libel suit brought by former U.S. Army Chief of Staff General William Westmoreland against CBS Television for the televising of a documentary entitled The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception, narrated by the investigative reporter, Mike Wallace. It was shown...