Opinion ID: 2263950
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Restrictive Order

Text: Although we have decided this case on due process grounds, we also address our continuing grave reservations with regard to the propriety of the restrictive order. [7] As succinctly put by the First Circuit Court of Appeals, [t]he power to censor is the power to regulate the marketplace of ideas, to impoverish both the quantity and quality of debate, and to restrict the free flow of criticism against the government at all levels. It is plain now as it was to the framers of the Constitution and Bill of Rights that the power of censorship is, in the absence of the strictest constraints, too great to be wielded by any individual or group of individuals. Matter of Providence Journal Co., 820 F.2d 1342, 1345 (1st Cir.1986), modified on reh'g, 820 F.2d 1354 (1st Cir.1987) (en banc), cert. dismissed, 485 U.S. 693, 108 S.Ct. 1502, 99 L.Ed.2d 785 (1988). In this case, we have no doubt as to the sincerity of the trial justice nor do we question his motive in attempting to protect the lives of those citizens willing to come forward and testify in a criminal trial. Although the guarantees of freedom of expression are not an absolute prohibition under all circumstances,    the barriers to prior restraint remain high and the presumption against its use continues intact. Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart, 427 U.S. 539, 570, 96 S.Ct. 2791, 49 L.Ed.2d 683 (1976). Also, prior restraint on speech and publication are the most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights. Id. at 559, 96 S.Ct. 2791. See also Tory v. Cochran, ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 2108, 161 L.Ed.2d 1042 (2005). Further, damage can be particularly great when the prior restraint falls upon the communication of news and commentary on current events. Truthful reports of public judicial proceedings have been afforded special protection against subsequent punishment. Nebraska Press, 427 U.S. at 559, 96 S.Ct. 2791. See also Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn, 420 U.S. 469, 492-93, 95 S.Ct. 1029, 43 L.Ed.2d 328 (1975). On a previous occasion, this Court applied much of the United States Supreme Court's free speech jurisprudence to a case involving a protective order entered before the extortion, assault, kidnapping, and conspiracy trial of former Providence Mayor Vincent Cianci. State v. Cianci, 496 A.2d 139 (R.I.1985). When issuing orders that may amount to a prior restraint on publication, we caution trial justices to follow the guidelines set forth in Nebraska Press and Cianci. [8] Although we decline to further address the constitutionality of the October 22, 2003 restrictive order at this time, we hereby quash that order due to the fact that the Pona trial has long been over and the protections that might have been afforded by the restrictive order are no longer necessary.