Thursday, November 14, 2013

Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia case brief

Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia case brief summary
448 U.S. 555 (1980)

CASE SYNOPSIS
Appellant newspaper reporters sought review from the Supreme Court of Virginia of a closure order and denials of writs of mandamus and prohibition excluding the press and the public from a murder trial. Appellants contended that the right of the public and press to attend criminal trials was guaranteed under the United States Constitution.

DISCUSSION

  • The court reversed a closure order excluding the press and the public from a murder trial. Defendant had moved that the trial be closed in order to prevent leaks to the media which could then be seen by jurors. 
  • Appellant newspaper reporters' motion to vacate the closure order was denied and their writs of mandamus and prohibition were dismissed. 
  • Although the trial had long since ended, the underlying dispute was not moot because it was capable of repetition, yet evading review. 
  • As to the merits, the right of the press and the public to attend criminal trials was implicit in the guarantees of the U.S. Constitutional Amendment I. 
  • The trial court made no findings to support closure. 
  • Various tested alternatives existed to satisfy the constitutional demands of fairness in a trial, but none were considered to deal with potential problems with the witnesses and the jury. 
  • Absent an overriding interest articulated in findings, the trial of a criminal case had to be open to the public.
CONCLUSION
The court reversed a closure order excluding the press and the public from a murder trial because the right of the press and the public to attend criminal trials was implicit in the guarantees of the United States Constitution.

Suggested Study Aids and Books

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Ins and Outs of Class Action Lawsuits: A Comprehensive Guide

Sometimes, you may buy a product only to find it defective. To make it worse, your search for the product reveals mass complaints. You can ...