Opinion ID: 469117
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Constitutional Grounds

Text: 24 The Supreme Court has not addressed the precise issues before us. The Court has discussed, however, the media's and public's constitutional right to attend criminal trials, see, e.g., Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, 457 U.S. 596, 102 S.Ct. 2613, 73 L.Ed.2d 248 (1982); Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 100 S.Ct. 2814, 65 L.Ed.2d 973 (1980), and has also discussed the common-law basis for the right of access to tape-recordings admitted into evidence. See Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 98 S.Ct. 1306, 55 L.Ed.2d 570 (1978). 25 In Richmond Newspapers, the Court concluded that the right of the public and press to attend criminal trials is constitutionally guaranteed under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The trial court there had completely excluded the press and the public, articulating no justifications. The Court held, in the plurality opinion, that [a]bsent an overriding interest articulated in findings, the trial of a criminal case must be open to the public. 448 U.S. at 581, 100 S.Ct. at 2829. The Court cautioned that this right is not absolute. Id. at 581 n. 18, 100 S.Ct. at 2830 n. 18. It declined, however, to list circumstances in which all or part of a criminal trial could be closed. Id. Chief Justice Burger, writing for the plurality, explained generally that in the interest of the fair administration of justice, a trial court may impose reasonable limitations on access to a trial. Id. 26 Overall, the plurality was concerned with protecting the opportunities for the communication of thought and the discussion of public questions immemorially associated with resort to public places. Id. (quoting Cox v. New Hampshire, 312 U.S. 569, 574, 61 S.Ct. 762, 765, 85 L.Ed. 1049 (1941)). On the other hand, the plurality was also concerned with the atmosphere and orderliness of the trial: 27 It is far more important that trials be conducted in a quiet and orderly setting than it is to preserve that atmosphere on city streets. (citations omitted) Moreover, since courtrooms have limited capacity, there may be occasions when not every person who wishes to attend can be accommodated. 28 448 U.S. at 581-82 n. 18, 100 S.Ct. at 2829-30 n. 18. The plurality explained that criminal trials were traditionally open to as many people as wanted or were able to come near enough to hear. Id. at 566, 100 S.Ct. at 2821. Because not all members of the public will fit into a courtroom, the media play an important role as representatives and may be allowed preferential positions in the courtroom. Id. 573, 581-82 n. 18, 100 S.Ct. at 2825, 2829-30 n. 18. It is fundamental that the public and the press have a right to be present and the rights to speak and to publish concerning what takes place at a trial. Id. at 576-78, 100 S.Ct. at 2821. 29 In Richmond Newspapers, the policy reasons for the decision were set forth in detail. Openness of trial proceedings, said the Court, promotes many valuable goals: the appearance of fairness; public confidence in the judicial system; the discouragement of misconduct, perjury or secret bias; the enhancement of the performance of all parties; the protection of the judge from imputations of dishonesty; the education of the public; the provision of a safe outlet for public hostility and concern; the avoidance of covert actions and secret proceedings; and equal treatment of rich and poor. The Court said, as it has said before, that What transpires in the court room is public property. 448 U.S. at 573 n. 9, 100 S.Ct. at 2825 n. 9. (quoting Craig v. Harney, 331 U.S. 367, 374, 67 S.Ct. 1249, 1254, 91 L.Ed. 1546 (1947)). The Media suggests that this statement implies some sort of ownership interest in the tangible records and documents at trial. While the public probably does have some indirect ownership interest in all government property, the statement is merely a dramatic way of stating that the public has a right to know what transpires. 30 In Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, 457 U.S. 596, 102 S.Ct. 2613, 73 L.Ed.2d 248 (1982), the facts again involved complete exclusion of the public and the press from the entire trial, a rape prosecution. In that case, a state statute required clearing the courtroom when young victims of alleged rapes were examined, and the trial court, in its discretion, had ordered the closure of all the trial proceedings. The majority of the Court stated that nondisclosure of sensitive information is only justified where a compelling interest is shown and the denial of access is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. Id. at 606-07, 102 S.Ct. at 2619-20. The majority concluded that the state's interests were compelling enough to justify restriction of public attendance at a criminal trial, but that the statute was not narrowly tailored to serve that interest because it imposed an absolute requirement that certain portions of rape prosecutions be closed to the public in all cases. Id. at 607-08, 102 S.Ct. at 2620. The Court reaffirmed that public access to criminal trials is a fundamental right under the First Amendment and echoed the rationale of Richmond Newspapers. Id. at 604-05, 102 S.Ct. at 2618-19. 1 31 In sum, the Supreme Court in Richmond Newspapers and Globe Newspaper focused on the right to open attendance at criminal trials, and it declared a non-absolute right to such attendance. Both cases involved complete exclusion of the media from the trial proceedings. Applying the holdings of these cases to the appeal before us, it is indisputable that the Media was never denied its constitutionally guaranteed right to be present at the trial. It was given preferential seating. Tapes that the jury heard through earphones were broadcast in open court over loudspeakers. No restrictions on attendance, note-taking or publication were imposed. The Media had an unfettered opportunit[y] for the communication of thought and the discussion of public questions as required by the Constitution. See Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 581-82 n. 18, 100 S.Ct. at 2829-30 n. 18. The Media in this case was not excluded from the courtroom. 32 The facts and issues in Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 98 S.Ct. 1306, 55 L.Ed.2d 570 (1978), were similar to those in the present appeal. Warner Communications involved the criminal trial of several of President Nixon's former advisers in connection with the Watergate investigation. Portions of tape-recordings were played for the jury and the public in the courtroom, and the reels of tape were admitted into evidence. The district court furnished the jurors, reporters, and members of the public in attendance with transcripts, which were not admitted as evidence. Members of the media attempted to obtain immediate access to the tapes as well, which the district court denied. The Supreme Court addressed both constitutional and common law arguments for the media's right to copy the tapes. 33 The media argued in Warner Communications that it had a right to copy the tapes under both the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press and the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a public trial. The Court rejected these arguments, finding no constitutional basis for the asserted right to copy the tapes. 435 U.S. at 608, 98 S.Ct. at 1317. One of the arguments made by the media was that the public's understanding of the highly publicized trial remained incomplete without the opportunity to listen to the tapes and form their own judgments as to their meaning. The Court rejected this argument: 34 In the first place, this argument proves too much. The same could be said of a live witness, yet there is no constitutional right to have such testimony recorded and broadcast. Second, while the guarantee of a public trial, in the words of Mr. Justice Black, is a safeguard against any attempt to employ our courts as instruments of persecution, it confers no special benefit on the press. Nor does the Sixth Amendment require that the trial--or any part of it--be broadcast live or on tape to the public. The requirement of a public trial is satisfied by the opportunity of members of the public and the press to attend the trial and to report what they have observed. That opportunity abundantly existed here. 35 435 U.S. at 610, 98 S.Ct. at 1318 (citations omitted). 36 In Warner Communications, the media had relied on the Supreme Court's opinion in Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn, 420 U.S. 469, 95 S.Ct. 1029, 43 L.Ed.2d 328 (1975), to support its assertion of a First Amendment right to copy and publish exhibits and materials displayed in open court. See 435 U.S. at 608-09, 98 S.Ct. at 1317. 37 Respondents [broadcasters] argue that release of the tapes is required by both the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press and the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a public trial. Neither supports respondents' conclusion.... Respondents claim that Cox Broadcasting guarantees the press access to--meaning the right to copy and publish--exhibits and materials displayed in open court. 38 This argument misconceives the holding in Cox Broadcasting. 39 Warner Communications, 435 U.S. at 608-09, 98 S.Ct. at 1317. In Cox, the Court had held that, under the First Amendment, a state could not prohibit the press from publishing a rape victim's name, where the name was given on court records. The majority opinion in Warner Communications explained that Cox merely affirmed the media's right to publish facts that were in court records open to the public. 435 U.S. at 609, 98 S.Ct. at 1317. It said Cox stood for the proposition that the press cannot be prevented from reporting what it had learned and what the public was entitled to know. Id. at 609, 98 S.Ct. at 1317. The Court in Warner Communications stated that Cox simply did not apply: 40 There simply were no restrictions upon press access to, or publication of, any information in the public domain. Indeed the press--including reporters of the electronic media--was permitted to listen to the tapes and report on what was heard. 41 435 U.S. at 609, 98 S.Ct. at 1317. On these grounds, the Court in Warner Communications found that there was no constitutional right to access to the tapes. The Court noted that the public never had access to the Watergate tapes as physical objects and that the press had only the same rights as the general public. Id. at 609, 98 S.Ct. at 1317. In describing the issue before it, the Court stated that the issue 42 is not whether the press must be permitted access to public information to which the public generally is guaranteed access, but whether these copies of the White House tapes--to which the public has never had physical access--must be made available for copying. 43 Id. (emphasis in original). This passage indicates clearly that there is a difference between an opportunity to hear the tapes and access to the tapes themselves. 44 Applying the Court's reasoning in Warner Communications to the present appeal, we find that there was no obstruction of the free flow of information. There were no restrictions on media access to the trial or on the publication of information in the public domain. The Constitution requires that members of the public and the media have the opportunity to attend criminal trials and to report what they have observed. Warner Communications, 435 U.S. at 610, 98 S.Ct. at 1318. As in Warner Communications, [t]hat opportunity abundantly existed here. See id. If a right to copy the tapes and transcripts in this case exists, it must come from a source other than the Constitution.