Opinion ID: 1418014
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: standards for closure

Text: Petitioners urge, in essence, that the respondent's closure order constituted a prior restraint upon freedom of speech in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and restricted their access to court proceedings in violation of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, § 8, of the Wyoming Constitution. It is important, at the outset, to properly characterize the respondent's order. A prior restraint prevents publication of information in the possession of the press and is presumed unconstitutional. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., v. Jerome, supra, citing Oklahoma Publishing Co. v. District, 430 U.S. 308, 97 S.Ct. 1045, 51 L.Ed.2d 355 (1977), and Nebraska Press Ass'n v. Stuart, 427 U.S. 539, 96 S.Ct. 2791, 49 L.Ed.2d 683 (1976). See, ABA Standards Relating to the Administration of Criminal Justice, Fair Trial and Free Press, Standard 8-3.1 (Second Edition Tentative Draft, 1978). Here, the press was not prevented from publishing information in their possession. It was their access to the information which was restricted. The United States Supreme Court has never held that the First or Sixth Amendments create an absolute right to access to all court proceedings or to all information in the possession of the courts. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., v. Jerome, supra; and Gannett Pacific Corp. v. Richardson, Haw., 580 P.2d 49, 55 (1978). It is also important to note that the petitioners do not occupy a special status distinct from that of the public. Their right to be present derives from their status as members of the public. Gannett Pacific Corp. v. Richardson, supra, at 54, and cases cited therein. Nevertheless, the question of access must be addressed with care and from the proper perspective. There is almost universal agreement among the courts, which have considered the right-of-access issue, that access to court proceedings should be limited only in exceptional circumstances. See Gannett Pacific Corp. v. Richardson, supra; Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Jerome, supra; and Keene Publishing v. Keene District Court, N.H., 380 A.2d 261 (1977). The reason for requiring all court proceedings to be open, except where extraordinary reasons for closure are present, is to enhance the public trust and confidence in the judicial process, and to insulate the process against attempts to use the courts as tools for persecution. Gannett Pacific Corp. v. Richardson, supra. We find that the standard suggested by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Association Standards for Criminal Justice represents the most acceptable approach to the right-of-access problem. Standard 8-3.2, supra, provides: Except as provided below, pretrial proceedings and their record shall be open to the public, including representatives of the news media. If at the pretrial proceeding testimony or evidence is adduced that is likely to threaten the fairness of a trial, the presiding officer shall advise those present of the danger and shall seek the voluntary cooperation of the news media in delaying dissemination of potentially prejudicial information by means of public communication until the impaneling of the jury or until an earlier time consistent with the fair administration of justice. The presiding officer may close a preliminary hearing, bail hearing, or any other pretrial proceeding, including a motion to suppress, and may seal the record only if (i) the dissemination of information from the pretrial proceeding and its record would create a clear and present danger to the fairness of the trial, and (ii) the prejudicial effect of such information on trial fairness cannot be avoided by any reasonable alternative means. The defendant may move that all or part of the proceeding be closed to the public (including representatives of the news media), or, with the consent of the defendant, the presiding officer may take such action sua sponte or at the suggestion of the prosecution. Whenever under this rule all or part of any pretrial proceeding is held in chambers or otherwise closed to the public, a complete record shall be kept and made available to the public following the completion of trial or earlier if consistent with trial fairness. To this standard we would add several further requirements. The portion of the pretrial proceeding involved in the determination of closure shall, itself, be closed to the public. Otherwise, there would be no meaningful way of ascertaining whether or not the failure to close the pretrial proceeding would create a clear and present danger to the fairness of the trial, nor would there be an effective way of deciding whether or not there exists a reasonable alternative to closure. A record of this preliminary determination shall be kept, and the factual basis for the determination upon which closure is predicated shall be made apparent therein. Of course, if a decision not to close the pretrial proceeding is rendered, then this record shall be made available to the public in the normal course of the court's business. See, Gannett Pacific Corp. v. Richardson, supra, at 57.