The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-08-01


Joseph Coult appeared for the Traction
Company Sffp osroole, reporter for the
Newark Evening News, was present. in
the performance of his regular duty.
taking notes for a report Of the proceed
ings. The Evening News" reports an
extraordinary incident and the action OF
the Vice-Chancellor briefly thus, it says
While Mr.. Coult was making his ar
| gument tile Vice Chancellor suddenly
! checked the proceedings, and calling a
News reporter to the bench; took pos
session of the latters notes. and gave
orders that no word spoken by the Court
should be published under penalty of
punishment for contempt of court.
The Evening News apparently not
having the fear of any contempt pro-
ceedings, or of the wrath of the Court,
| very much under consideration, did pub
lish a report of the proceedings, and the
| Newark Advertiser did the same thing.
| although it's reporter was excluded from
| the court room by order of the Court.
| Neither newspaper paid any heed to the
| threat of the Vice Chancellor to arrest
and punish the parties who might make
publication of what he said, or of the
proceedings in the court room. We do
| not suppose that the Vice Chancellor ex-
| pected that they would suppress the pub
| lication of anything on account of his
announcement or warning, nor do we be-
1;+b {l,4
the right to enforce any such threat as
he is reported to have made. The
News gives in full the incidents of the
| Courts talk with, or at the reporter, of
| the taking possession of the reporters
notes, and subsequently peremptorily for
| bidding the publication of anything re-
lating to the case The Advertiser
| whose reporter was not allowed to enter
| the court room, gives this brief account
| of the treatment the News man re-
| ceived, it says
| Some testimony had been taken when
| Vice Chancellor Pitney made some re-
marks to the effect that street railroad
| companies had obtained public fran
| chises very cheaply, and that trial by
| juries Disseminated against street rail-
way companies in their verdicts.
After he had made the remarks the
table and saw John L. OToole, of the
Evening News
'Is that reporter" queried. his honor.
eyes, SIR" said O'Toole.
''Come here
O'Toole went forward.
'Let me see your notes." demanded
the Vice Chancellor.
O'Toole handed his notes to the Vice
Chancellor. who took them with the re-
mark, "You can leave the room. If one
line is printed in your paper about this
of COURT
All this appears to us very absurd and
ridiculous, and when the Vice Chancellor
goes down to the seashore and cools off
and thinks it over, we think he will take
that view of it himself Constitutionally,
legally, and of universal custom, the
courts in this country are open, not se-
cret, or star chamber, tribunals. The
free publication of public proceedings in
courts, as in other places, is guaran>
teed constitutional right, the exercise of
which no judge or court has the power
to inhibt; and this right, of course, car
ries with it the right of the representa-
tives of the public press to be present in
open court and get the information nee
essary for making such publication, sub
ject, of course, to the laws that govern
all publications of news, and all state.
ments and comments of the press. The
press can not libel the Court with i'm
punity; it can be held responsible for
any abuse of its rights and privileges;
but neither can any Court muzzle the
ileges. 1t would be a cowardly newspa-
per that would suppress report of pro-
ceedings in a court merely on the arbi-
trary order of a judge. The press is as
independent in its own sphere ana 1unc-
tions as the judge is in his court, and in
conducting its proceedings, and neither
should unduly interfere with the other
We hold, therefore, that ViceIChancellor
Pitney was wrong when he excluded the
reporter of the advertiser" from the
court room, and also wrong when he took
possession of the notes of the reporter
of the News and ordered him to go
out of the court room; and his threat to
punish, either the reporter, or a news
paper, for contempt of court because of
the publication of court proceedings, or