Opinion ID: 815370
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Right of Access in the Supreme Court: The

Text: Experience and Logic Test The Supreme Court has suggested that the existence of a First Amendment right to gather news (i.e., the right of access to the source of information or a government process) is best evaluated via a balancing test. The necessity of such a test was first noted in Branzburg v. Hayes, where a reporter had claimed that testifying before a grand jury about confidential sources would violate his right to gather news. 408 U.S. 665. A plurality of the Court acknowledged that, “without some [First Amendment] protection for seeking out the news, freedom of the press could be eviscerated.” Id. at 681. On the other hand, the plurality did not believe that this protection for news-gathering extended endlessly. Id. at 68183 (“[The press] has no special immunity from the application of general laws [and] no special privilege to invade the rights and liberties of others.”). Thus, they affirmed the principle that the press is not guaranteed a “constitutional right of special access to information not available to the public generally.” Id. at 684 (citing, inter alia, Zemel, 381 U.S. at 16-17, and N.Y. Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. at 72830 (Stewart, J., concurring)). 20 Having set the operative framework, the plurality then engaged in a balancing inquiry to determine which set of rights should prevail. In his concurrence, Justice Powell summarized the sentiment of the plurality and his own position: “The asserted claim to privilege should be judged on its facts by the striking of a proper balance between freedom of the press and the obligation of all citizens to give relevant testimony with respect to criminal conduct.” Id. at 710. He added that “[t]he balance of these vital constitutional and societal interests on a case-by-case basis accords with the tried and traditional way of adjudicating such questions.” Id. Subsequently, the Court embarked on a similar balancing inquiry to uphold a California Department of Corrections regulation that prohibited the press and others from interviewing specific inmates. See Pell, 417 U.S. at 831-32. Prior to the enactment of the regulation in question, journalists “had virtually free access to interview any individual inmate” while non-press members of the public did not benefit from such an unrestricted visitation policy. Id. at 831. Journalists claimed that the new regulation, by limiting their news gathering activities, violated the First Amendment protections for freedom of the press. Id. at 820-21. Holding that the press does not enjoy any greater constitutional protection than does the general public, the Court ultimately agreed with the prison administrators that the interest in preserving security in the prisons outweighed the press‟s right to gather news, partly based on the fact that the press had an alternative means of obtaining this information. Id. at 82934. But while the opinions in Branzburg and Pell presented an ad hoc approach, the case of Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia suggested a more standardized 21 framework for evaluating the right of access to information about government processes. 448 U.S. 555 (1980) (plurality). In that case, reporters sought access to a courtroom that had been closed to the public to prevent undue dissemination of witness-related information, arguing that there were less restrictive means for ensuring a fair trial. The plurality reaffirmed the First Amendment‟s protection of the press and recognized that the First Amendment necessarily also “„prohibit[ed] government from limiting the stock of information from which members of the public may draw.‟” Id. at 575-76 (quoting First Nat’l Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765, 783 (1978)). Finding that access to trials could not be “foreclosed arbitrarily,” the Richmond Newspapers opinion suggested the framework for a more meaningful test on restrictions in nonpublic fora such as a courtroom. Id. at 577. The plurality acknowledged that courtrooms were nonpublic fora, but recognized the important role of their historical openness to the public — namely, that the public provides the oversight necessary to maintain the integrity of the judicial process. Id. at 573 n.9. As for the prison cases (e.g., Pell), the plurality distinguished them on the ground that trials were traditionally open to the public whereas prisons were not. Id. at 576 n.11. In addition to this historical tradition of openness, the plurality also noted that the presence of the public and its representatives “historically has been thought to enhance the integrity and quality of what takes place” in the courtroom. Id. at 578. Justice Brennan, writing in a concurrence, summarized “two helpful principles” drawn from the plurality‟s opinion: 22 First, the case for a right of access has special force when drawn from an enduring and vital tradition of public entree to particular proceedings or information. Such a tradition commands respect in part because the Constitution carries the gloss of history. More importantly, a tradition of accessibility implies the favorable judgment of experience. Second, the value of access must be measured in specifics. Analysis is not advanced by rhetorical statements that all information bears upon public issues; what is crucial in individual cases is whether access to a particular government process is important in terms of that very process. Id. at 589 (citation omitted) (Brennan, J., concurring). This distillation — effectively juxtaposing the People‟s historical practice of and interest in monitoring government with the State‟s historical practice of and interest in keeping certain information from public view — formed the basis for what has become the Court‟s balancing test for evaluating whether a right of access to government information exists. Indeed, the Court embraced this framework in a subsequent right of access case, Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court for Norfolk County, 457 U.S. 596 (1982), where the press sought access to a criminal trial involving the sexual abuse of underage victims. Writing for the majority, Justice Brennan explained why a right of access attached to criminal trials: First, the criminal trial historically has been open to the press and general public. . . . And 23 since that time the presumption of openness has remained secure. . . . Second, the right of access to criminal trials plays a particularly significant role in the functioning of the judicial process and the government as a whole. . . . In sum, the institutional value of the open criminal trial is recognized in both logic and experience. Id. at 605-06 (emphasis added). Finding that both factors weighed heavily in favor of openness, the Court in Globe held that the press had a qualified right of access because the right to access criminal trials is “of constitutional stature.” Id. at 606. Consequently, the Court held that the government could restrict access to criminal trials only if the restriction was necessitated “by a compelling governmental interest, and [was] narrowly tailored to serve that interest.” Id. at 606-07. Arguably the most complete statement of the Court‟s balancing test came in Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of California for Riverside County, 478 U.S. 1 (1986), in which the Supreme Court considered the right of access to preliminary hearings in criminal trials. The Court held that a right of First Amendment access requires a two-prong evaluation of “whether the place and process have historically been open to the press” and “whether public access plays a significant positive role in the functioning of the particular process in question.” Id. at 8. Where both prongs of the test are satisfied, “a qualified First Amendment right of public access attaches.” Id. at 9. These three cases — Richmond Newspapers, Globe, and Press-Enterprise — set out a balancing test for evaluating whether a right of access to information about government bodies, their processes, and their decision exists. This 24 framework, referred to either as the Richmond Newspapers test or the “experience and logic” test, balances the interests of the People in observing and monitoring the functions of their government against the government‟s interest and/or long-standing historical practice of keeping certain information from public scrutiny. If a right of access exists, any restraint on that right is then evaluated under strict scrutiny. See Globe, 457 U.S. 606-07. Our Circuit has also applied the Richmond Newspapers balancing test in various contexts. While the Supreme Court decisions discussed above largely cabin the test‟s application to situations addressing criminal proceedings, our own jurisprudence demonstrates a willingness to apply the test more broadly. Still, we have never applied Richmond Newspapers to a polling place or to the process of voting. As such, it is a matter of first impression. Thus, our focus is on the appropriate scope and application of the test. We look to our prior decisions for guidance. D. The Experience and Logic Test in the Third Circuit In Publicker Industries, Inc. v. Cohen, 733 F.2d 1059 (3d Cir. 1984), we expanded the application of Richmond Newspapers to civil trials. We reasoned that “[t]he Supreme Court‟s recognition of a First Amendment right of access to criminal trials is predicated on „the common understanding that a major purpose of that Amendment was to protect the free discussion of governmental affairs,‟” and that, in civil trials, too, the “public right of access . . . is inherent in the nature of our democratic form of government.” Id. at 106869 (emphasis added) (quoting Globe, 457 U.S. at 604). 25 Two years later, in First Amendment Coalition v. Judicial Inquiry and Review Board, 784 F.2d 467 (3d Cir. 1986), we considered a right of access claim to records of Pennsylvania‟s Judicial Inquiry and Review Board. Assuming that a right of access did exist, we considered the point at which this right attached under Richmond Newspapers. See id. at 472; see also North Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Ashcroft, 308 F.3d 198, 208 (3d Cir. 2002) (reading First Amendment Coalition as applying the “experience and logic” test). While we ultimately noted that Board proceedings did not “have a long history of openness,” the case illustrates our willingness to expand the application of the Richmond Newspapers framework beyond litigation proceedings. First Amendment Coal., 784 F.2d at 472; see also id. at 481 (Adams, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (arguing that “[t]he correct legal analysis here flows in large measure from the historical record” and the standards set forth in Globe and Press-Enterprise).14 Capital Cities Media, Inc. v. Chester, 797 F.2d 1164 (3d Cir. 1986) (en banc), decided the same year as First Amendment Coalition, stands as a watershed case. That 14 We have also extended the “experience and logic” analysis to other portions of the criminal trial process. See, e.g., United States v. Smith, 776 F.2d 1104, 1111-12 (3d Cir. 1985) (determining, by “employing the historical and structural analysis mandated by [Richmond Newspapers, Globe and Press-Enterprise], whether there is a First Amendment right of access to indictments. Although those cases concerned access to judicial proceedings, no reason occurs to us why their analysis does not apply as well to judicial documents . . . ”). 26 proceeding concerned a claimed right of access to certain administrative records held by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (“D.E.R.”). We concluded that Richmond Newspapers, Globe and Press-Enterprise “hold no more than that the government may not close government proceedings which historically have been open” except where “public access contributes nothing of significant value to that process or [where] there is a compelling state interest in closure and a carefully tailored resolution of the conflict between that interest and First Amendment concerns.” Id. at 1173. In effect, we held that the three cases do no more than set forth the generalized “experience and logic” test for evaluating the right of access to traditionally open government proceedings. Id. at 1174-76. Moreover, in evaluating the existence of the right to access D.E.R. files, we were cognizant of the fact that the Supreme Court had not yet applied the “experience and logic” test “to the context of executive branch files.” Id. at 1174. Nevertheless, we assumed, without deciding, that the test applied to such information and proceeded with our evaluation. Id. at 1174-75; see also id. at 1177-78 (Adams, J., concurring). Capital Cities therefore stands as the broadest suggested application of the “experience and logic” test, arguing that it can be applied beyond the limited context of criminal and civil trials to cover a greater expanse of information related to government bodies, their processes, and decisions.15 15 We recognize the very real concerns our colleagues raised in their dissent from Capital Cities: 27 Our willingness to apply the “experience and logic” test beyond judicial proceedings was once again evidenced in Whiteland Woods, L.P. v. Township of West Whiteland, 193 F.3d 177 (3d Cir. 1999). In that case, we considered whether a private enterprise, rather than a newspaper, had a First Amendment right to videotape “a meeting of the Township Planning Commission.” Id. at 178. In dicta, and relying on Globe, we reasoned that “[b]ecause a „major purpose of the First Amendment was to protect the free discussion of governmental affairs,‟ the public and press have the right to attend certain types of governmental proceedings.” Id. at 180 (citation omitted) (quoting Globe, 457 U.S. at 604). Consequently, we felt “no hesitation in holding Whiteland Woods had a constitutional right of access to the Planning Commission,” explaining that “[w]hether the public has a First Amendment right of access to a particular government The question . . . is whether government may, consistent with the speech-press clause, without offering any justification whatever for doing so, impose the ultimate prior restraint of imposed ignorance about its affairs simply by refusing access to information in the possession of public officials. The majority holds that it may. The governing case law quite plainly is otherwise. Capital Cities, 797 F.2d at 1186-87 (Gibbons, J., et al., dissenting). Here, we expressly do not reach the issue of whether — even in light of Capital Cities — the “experience and logic” test is appropriately applied to cases addressing access to legislative or executive records. That case is for another day. 28 proceeding depends on” the outcome of the experience and logic test. Id. at 180-81 (citing Capital Cities, 797 F.2d at 1174); see also North Jersey, 308 F.3d at 214 (noting that the right of access discussion in Whiteland is dicta). All of the decisions discussed above informed our analysis in North Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Ashcroft, a case in which we focused on the media‟s right of access to deportation proceedings. 308 F.3d 199. In defending its restriction, the government argued that “the absence of an explicit guarantee of access for Article I and II proceedings . . . gives rise to a distinction with a difference because, without an incorporating provision parallel to the Sixth Amendment, the Framers must have intended to deny the public access to political proceedings.” North Jersey, 308 F.3d at 207. “Our own jurisprudence preclude[d] this” result, id. at 207, and we held that “experience and logic” “is a test broadly applicable to issues of access to government proceedings, including removal,” id. at 208-09 (emphasis added).16 16 As it relates to our ruling in North Jersey, it bears repeating that the existence or non-existence of a Sixth Amendment-like provision relating to a particular government proceeding is not necessary for the satisfaction of the “experience and logic” test. Thus, in North Jersey, we noted that “[t]here is no suggestion [in Richmond Newspapers] that the Sixth Amendment is crucial to the right of access; indeed, this passage merely states that the Framers assumed a common and established practice.” North Jersey, 308 F.3d at 208. 29 E. The Experience and Logic Test is Applicable to Polling Places Considering the full sweep of our jurisprudence, we now hold that the experience and logic test articulated in Richmond Newspapers is applicable to the voting process. Indeed, an extension of the “experience and logic” test to the polling place is in line with the general trend of our decisional authority: that access to government proceedings — in effect, access to information about governmental bodies and their actions or decisions — must be evaluated with an eye toward the historical and structural role of the proceeding. North Jersey and Whiteland are particularly instructive in this regard. In North Jersey, we held that the “experience and logic” test applies to government proceedings under Articles I and II of the Constitution. Such proceedings include, among other things, the process of voting. While it does not set forth the exact nature of the proceeding, Article I of the Constitution states that “[t]he Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.” U.S. Const. art. I, § 4, cl. 1. Moreover, Article II declares that “[e]ach State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.” U.S. Const. art. II, § 1, cl. 2. This latter constitutional mandate grants “plenary power to the state legislatures in the matter of the appointment of electors,” McPherson v. Blacker, 146 U.S. 1, 35 (1892), 30 thereby ensuring that the voting process is, in no uncertain terms, a governmental process and procedure.17 These mandates to the states are likewise insufficient to escape the searching eye of the “experience and logic” test, for, in Whiteland, we applied the test to state-level proceedings (albeit in dicta). See also First Amendment Coalition, 784 F.2d at 472 (applying the test to a state judicial discipline board). Moreover, we believe that this reading of our prior decisions fully satisfies — and, in fact, exemplifies — the balancing inquiry first articulated by Justice Powell in his concurrence in Branzburg. There is an internal logic to this test: Where both historical and structural considerations militate against a presumption of openness, the press and public enjoy no constitutionally protected right of access. In such cases, the words of Justice Stewart ring true: The press and public “must rely, as so often in our system we must, on the tug and pull of the political forces in American society.” Capital Cities, 797 F.2d at 1173 (quoting Potter Stewart, Or of the Press, 26 Hastings L.J. 631, 636 (1975)). On the other hand, where history and structure point to a presumption of openness, a qualified First Amendment right attaches, and the government‟s attempts to cut off access to information is subjected to exacting constitutional scrutiny. 17 What is more: The process occurring within a polling place, as within a courtroom or a legislative meeting, is created, circumscribed, directed, and controlled by the government. See U.S. Const. art. I, § 4, cl. 1. 31 See, e.g., Globe, 457 U.S. at 606-07; North Jersey, 308 F.3d at 217 n.13. Thus, by engaging in the “experience and logic” inquiry, we preserve the interests of the government to keep private that which always has been and should be private, while recognizing the right of the press and the general public to enter and access traditionally open nonpublic fora and other sources of information about government bodies and their actions or decisions. Where a tradition of openness is found, the test ensures that the government cannot cut off access without subjecting itself to exacting constitutional scrutiny. By applying the experience and logic test, we ensure that the government cannot shroud its activities behind a veil of secrecy merely by banning everyone from a nonpublic forum. To hold otherwise would be to invite inequitable results, and create the possibility of government behavior that frustrates the “„paramount public interest in a free flow of information to the people concerning public officials.‟” Pell, 417 U.S. at 832 (quoting Garrison v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 64, 77 (1964)). F. Applying the Experience and Logic Test to the Instant Case Having determined that the “experience and logic” test applies to the voting process, we must now determine whether polling places are presumptively open and whether, as a result, the Appellant — as well as the general public — is presumptively entitled to a right of access pursuant to the First Amendment.
32 The framework articulated in Richmond Newspapers asks us to consider whether a “„place and process have historically been open to the press and general public.‟” North Jersey, 308 F.3d at 209 (quoting Press-Enterprise, 478 U.S. at 8). This analysis begins with a review of historical practices associated with a particular place or process; this inquiry is objective. See Capital Cities, 797 F.2d at 1175. Thus, for example, in Capital Cities we held that “the relevant historic[al] practice in this case is not specifically that of Pennsylvania‟s [D.E.R.]” Id. Instead, after considering Richmond Newspapers, Globe and PressEnterprise, we held that “[i]n each of these cases, the Court looked not to the practice of the specific public institution involved, but rather to whether the particular type of government proceeding had historically been open in our free society.” Id. (emphasis added). To meet this objective standard, the Supreme Court and the Third Circuit have drawn on a plethora of historical sources, including comments made by the Framers, practice at the English court of law, congressional procedures, relevant regulatory schemes, and court decisions. See, e.g., Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 564-73; Publicker, 733 F.2d at 1068-70; North Jersey, 308 F.3d at 211-15. This wide-ranging inquiry into historical practice is not incidental; the “experience” prong sets a relatively high bar, a point we recognized in North Jersey, when we compared the tradition of open deportation proceedings to the traditions of openness discussed in Richmond Newspapers (for criminal trials) and Publicker (for civil trials), and held that “deportation hearings [do not] boast a tradition of openness sufficient to satisfy Richmond Newspapers.” North Jersey, 308 F.3d at 212-13; cf. Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 573 n.9 (failing to find 33 “„a single instance of a criminal trial conducted in camera in any federal, state, or municipal court during the history of this country‟” (quoting In re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257, 266 (1948)); Publicker, 733 F.2d at 1059 (noting that a common law right to access civil trials was “beyond dispute”). In contrast to the criminal and civil trial settings, we noted that the “tradition of open deportation hearings is too recent and inconsistent to support a First Amendment right of access.” North Jersey, 308 F.3d at 211. And while we acknowledged that “a showing of openness at common law is not required” and that “a 1000-year history is unnecessary,” we were quick to note our inability to dispense with the “experience” analysis “where history is ambiguous or lacking, [or] to recognize a First Amendment right based solely on the „logic‟ inquiry.” Id. at 213.18 18 During our discussion in North Jersey, we acknowledged that one of our cases — United States v. Simone, 14 F.3d 833 (3d Cir. 1994) — applied the “experience and logic” test without the benefit of a wellestablished tradition of historical openness. 308 F.3d at 21314. The Simone case centered on a claimed right of access to post-trial examinations of jury misconduct. 14 F.3d 833. In analyzing the “experience” prong of the Richmond Newspapers framework, we noted that “[n]either the parties nor this court have been able to find cases dating before 1980 in support of either openness or closure for this type of posttrial proceeding.” Simone, 14 F.3d at 838. While we explicitly stated in Simone that our analysis would “rely primarily on the „logic‟ prong of the test,” we acknowledged that the experience prong was fulfilled by looking to “other phases of the criminal process.” Id.; see also North Jersey, 34 In the case before us, Appellant seeks access to the polling place.19 We therefore look to see whether a tradition of openness exists for the polling place and the process of voting occurring inside. 20 Our inquiry includes not just the 308 F.3d at 214 (acknowledging the peculiar nature of Simone). 19 We reject the argument, proffered by Appellant‟s counsel, that a right of access to polling places exists because information about voters is publicly available. The access Appellant seeks is not to this information; it is to the actual process occurring within the polling place prior to casting a vote. This crucial distinction also ensures that our decision does not pertain to activities such as exit-polling. 20 Ordinarily, our case law dictates that the complaint must allege this tradition of openness. See Capital Cities, 797 F.2d at 1175. In the current matter, we recognize that Appellant has not directly engaged with the “experience and logic” standard and therefore the complaint is relatively devoid of any such allegations. (As our earlier discussion explains, allegations as to the practices surrounding the specific government agency, process or law at issue are not pertinent.) However, we believe it is unnecessary to remand the case back to the District Court to give Appellant an opportunity to amend its pleadings. As the forthcoming analysis will demonstrate, the Supreme Court‟s review of elections in America presents a well-rounded picture of how restrictions around polling places developed. We therefore think it would be futile for Appellant to try to amend its pleadings. 35 act of voting, but also the act of entering the polling place and signing in to vote. In light of our reasoning that the “experience” inquiry is objective, we begin our analysis with the general voting process. At this level of generality, the Supreme Court‟s plurality opinion in Burson is highly instructive. The facts and legal conclusions of the decision are immaterial for our present purposes; we are instead interested in the plurality‟s thorough exegesis on the history of voting in America. See Burson, 504 U.S. at 200-06. While a full recapitulation is unnecessary, it behooves us to engage in a brief discussion. In the colonial era, voting was conducted by voice vote — a process freely accessible to the entire public. Id. at 200 (“That voting scheme was not a private affair, but an open, public decision, witnessed by all and improperly influenced by some.”). As time went on, and the perils of public voicebased voting became apparent, the newly-formed states adopted systems based on the paper ballot. Id. Voters would craft their own ballots at home and then bring them to the polls. Id. However, the trip between the home and the poll was not a private or protected affair, and the old evils of voice-based voting resurfaced in the form of pre-printed ballots, bribery, and intimidation. Id. at 200-01 (“State attempts to standardize the ballots were easily thwarted — the vote buyer could simply place a ballot in the hands of the bribed voter and watch until he placed it in the polling box.”). Under the original ballot-based system, “[a]pproaching the polling place . . . was akin to entering an open auction place. As the elector started his journey to the polls, he was met by various party ticket peddlers „who were only too anxious to supply him with their party tickets.‟” Id. at 202 (quoting 36 Eldon Cobb Evans, A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States 9 (1917)). In the late 1800s, states began adopting “the Australian system” of voting. Id. at 203. The new system not only placed all of the candidates on a single ballot, but it also “provided for the erection of polling booths . . . open only to election officials, two „scrutinees‟ for each candidate, and electors about to vote.” Id. at 202. The state laws differed mainly in the size of the exclusionary zone that they created around the polls. Id. (“The Massachusetts and New York laws differed somewhat from the previous Acts in that they excluded the general public only from the area encompassed within a guardrail constructed six feet from the voting compartments.”).21 “By 1896, almost 90 percent of the States had adopted the Australian system. This accounted for 92 percent of the national electorate.” Id. at 204-05. In his concurrence, Justice Scalia added that “[b]y 1900, at least 34 of the 45 States . . . had enacted such restrictions,” and that “most of the statutes banning electionday speech near the polling place specified the same distance”: 100 feet. Id. at 214-15 & n.1 (Scalia, J., concurring) (collecting statutes). 21 The court noted that “[t]his modification was considered an improvement because it provided additional monitoring by members of the general public and independent candidates, who in most States were not allowed to be represented by separate inspectors.” Burson, 504 U.S. at 203-04. 37 Now, returning our focus to Pennsylvania, we note that the Pennsylvania Constitution mandates that “[a]ll elections by the citizens shall be by ballot or by such other method as may be prescribed by law: Provided, That secrecy in voting be preserved.” Pa. Const. art. 7, § 4 (emphasis added). Moreover, the provisions in § 3060 limiting access to the polling place were adopted 75 years ago. See Act of June 3, 1937, P.L. 1333, No. 320, Art. XVIII, § 1220. While we do not look specifically at whether a tradition of openness exists in Pennsylvania, we do find it relevant that Pennsylvania laws and provisions are in line with the historical development discussed by the Supreme Court above. In light of the foregoing discussion — and our earlier directive that the tradition of openness must be objectively and clearly established — we find that the historical record is insufficient to establish a presumption of openness in the context of the voting process itself. While the act of voting — and the process by which voting was carried out — began its life as a public affair, our Nation‟s history demonstrates a decided and long-standing trend away from openness, toward a closed electoral process.
The Richmond Newspapers framework also tasks us with considering “whether public access plays a significant positive role in the functioning of the particular process in question.” North Jersey, 308 F.3d at 209 (quoting PressEnterprise, 478 U.S. at 8). We have adopted six broad “values” that are typically served by openness: [1] promotion of informed discussion of governmental affairs by providing the public 38 with the more complete understanding of the [proceeding]; [2] promotion of the public perception of fairness which can be achieved only by permitting full public view of the proceedings; [3] providing a significant community therapeutic value as an outlet for community concern, hostility and emotion; [4] serving as a check on corrupt practices by exposing the [proceeding] to public scrutiny; [5] enhancement of the performance of all involved; and [6] discouragement of [fraud]. United States v. Simone, 14 F.3d 833, 839 (3d Cir. 1994). Of course, these are general categories and the list is by no means exhaustive or mandatory. For the logic prong to be satisfied, it need not be shown that the government process or the general public will benefit in all six ways from press and public access. In addition to considering the benefits that would result from press and public access, we must “take account of the flip side — the extent to which openness impairs the public good.” North Jersey, 308 F.3d at 217. Indeed, the logic analysis must account for the negative effects of openness, for otherwise “it is difficult to conceive of a government proceeding to which the public would not have a First Amendment right of access.” Id. (“[P]ublic access to any government affair, even internal CIA deliberations, would „promote informed discussion‟ among the citizenry. It is unlikely the Supreme Court intended this result.”). And while the consideration of potentially detrimental effects is speculative, we have held that “the Richmond Newspapers logic prong is unavoidably speculative.” Id. at 219. 39 Finally, we note that a necessary corollary to the “experience” prong being an objective inquiry is that the “logic” prong is likewise an objective inquiry. To hold otherwise would lead to untenable consequences: First Amendment rights of access would not only vary from venue to venue, but they would be subject to a kind of arbitrary examination that is anathema to our system of defined constitutional rights. In the case before us, we begin by noting the rather obvious fact that openness of the voting process helps prevent election fraud, voter intimidation, and various other kinds of electoral evils. “[S]unlight,” as has so often been observed, “is the most powerful of all disinfectants.” N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 305 (1964). Of course, in situations where the press is not geographically far removed from the proceedings anyway, the benefits of additional oversight are inversely proportional to the distance of the press. The situation in Pennsylvania is a fine example: The press (like the general public) is only 10 feet away from the polling place, and we have no tangible or discernible evidence of how the public good would benefit so much more from the press being inside the room, rather than several paces away.22 22 At oral argument it became apparent that the press could simply stand at the 10-foot mark, point their cameras inside the polling place — which we note again is just the room designated for voting — and begin to record the activity. Counsel for Appellee conceded that this would be permissible, and counsel for Appellant had no satisfactory response as to how or why this procedure would not serve the Appellant‟s interest. 40 Appellant argues that access to the polling place was particularly necessary during this past election because of the Voter ID Law. More specifically, Appellant argues that the Voter ID Law — part of which was suspended for purposes of the November 6, 2012 election — may have caused voter confusion as to whether identification is required in order to cast a vote. As a result, Appellant argues that it was of the utmost importance for reporters to observe and record the goings on at the sign-in table during this election. We agree that openness in a situation where new legislation is being implemented or tested would generally serve the public good. It implicates several of the broad categories recognized in Simone, including the “promotion of informed discussion of governmental affairs by providing the public with [a] more complete understanding of the [proceeding].” Simone, 14 F.3d at 839. We therefore consider this as a factor weighing in favor of satisfying the “logic” prong.23 The experience and logic test requires that we also examine the potential dangers inherent in openness. Of greatest concern to us is that access for one is access for all. While Appellant urges that its reporters should be permitted to access the polling place for purposes of gathering news, there is no constitutionally valid way of limiting the right of access only to Appellant. Finding a right of access for one 23 The weight we accord to this fact in our inquiry under the logic prong would be different if the Voter ID Law actually had been implemented; indeed, our entire analysis of the “experience and logic” test could be different. However, that case is not before us, and we decline to speculate regarding its effect. As both parties concede, November 6, 2012 represented only a “soft test” of its implementation. 41 member of the press necessarily means that all other members of the press must or should share in that right. This brings us to the next concern, raised at oral argument: Who is a member of the press? Even if we were inclined to find a special First Amendment right for the press in this case (which we explicitly refuse to do), the class of persons to whom such a right is applicable is almost boundless. Counsel for Appellant could not divine a way to confine the potential beneficiaries of a ruling in its favor.24 Moreover, there is a very real possibility that the presence of reporters during the sign-in period, when individuals are necessarily exchanging personal information in preparation for casting a private vote, could concern, intimidate or even turn away potential voters. 24 More recently, membership in the Fourth Estate has been democratized. Access to blogs, smartphones, and an extensive network of social media sites (not the least of which are Twitter and Facebook) have transformed all of us into potential members of the media. While in almost any other situation this would be a boon to a free and democratic society, in the context of the voting process, the confusion and chaos that would result from a potentially limitless number of reporters in a polling place would work the opposite effect, potentially creating confusion, frustration, and delay. This is to say nothing of our earlier holding that the rights of access for the press and public are co-extensive. In this situation, anyone could record in the polling place if the First Amendment protected the right of access thereto. 42 On balance then, we find the “logic” prong of this inquiry disfavors finding a constitutionally protected right of access to the voting process. We therefore find that both prongs of the “experience and logic” test militate against finding a right of access in this case. As in North Jersey, we note that while the Constitution does not provide protection under the First Amendment, “there is, as always, the powerful check of political accountability.” North Jersey, 308 F.3d at 220. G. Beacon Journal is Unpersuasive Despite clear indications by the Supreme Court and this Circuit that the experience and logic test is the appropriate analytical framework for the instant dispute, Appellant urges us to follow the Sixth Circuit‟s conclusion in Beacon Journal Publishing Co., Inc. v. Blackwell, 389 F.3d 683 (6th Cir. 2004), a decision whose reasoning is ambiguous at best. We decline to do so. The Beacon Journal court analyzed the constitutionality of an Ohio statute similar to Pennsylvania‟s § 3060(d) as applied to members of the media. Like § 3060(d), the Ohio law mandated that “[n]o person, not an election official, employee, witness, challenger, or police officer, shall be allowed to enter the polling place during the election, except for the purpose of voting.” Id. at 684 (quoting Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3501.35 (2002)). The Beacon Journal Publishing Company (which published the Beacon Journal newspaper) moved for injunctive relief, arguing that the law “abridg[ed its] First Amendment rights.” Id. The Sixth Circuit, without fully setting out the basis for its decision, applied strict scrutiny and held that the government had made no showing that the law was 43 “necessary to further the state‟s [interest in ensuring orderly elections] and „narrowly drawn to achieve that end.‟” Id. at 685 (quoting Perry, 460 U.S. at 45). It therefore concluded that the Ohio law likely abridged the freedom of the press, and ordered that the injunction be granted and that the state “immediately and forthwith permit [Beacon Journal] to have reasonable access to any polling place for the purpose of news-gathering and reporting so long as [Beacon Journal does] not interfere with poll workers and voters as voters exercise their right to vote.” Id. Beacon Journal‟s citation to Perry for the strict scrutiny standard is telling (and troubling). The Perry case, which concerned a law regulating expressive activity in a public school, formulated its analysis this way: “The existence of a right of access to public property and the standard by which limitations upon such a right must be evaluated differ depending on the character of the property at issue.” Perry, 460 U.S. at 44 (emphasis added). As we have explained above, the “right of access” at issue in Perry concerned access to a forum for speech purposes. The right at issue in this case (and in Beacon Journal) is different — it concerns the right of access to a government proceeding for news-gathering purposes. Moreover, in applying a forum analysis, the Sixth Circuit apparently took the polling place to be a public forum. This is incorrect and stands adverse to both Supreme Court precedent and our precedent. As we have just held: a polling place is a nonpublic forum, requiring the government to satisfy only a reasonableness analysis. Therein lies our discord with the Beacon Journal ruling. As our foregoing discussion demonstrates, adopting a traditional forum analysis for cases such as the one at bar sets a dangerous precedent 44 which permits the government too much freedom to hide their activities from the public‟s view. We cannot accept this result. Beacon Journal is a precedent we cannot follow.25 As there is no protected First Amendment right of access to a polling place for news-gathering purposes, we find that Appellant has failed to state a claim and affirm the District Court‟s dismissal of Count I.