Court Opinion

ID: 9426541
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:18:14.698489+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:00.664166
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Stevens,
concurring in the judgment.
For the reasons eloquently stated by Mr. Justice Brennan, I agree that the judiciary is capable of protecting the defendant's right to a fair trial without enjoining the press from publishing information in the public domain, and that it may not do so. Whether the same absolute protection would apply no matter how shabby or illegal the means by which the information is obtained, no matter how serious an intrusion on privacy might be involved, no matter how demonstrably false the information might be, no matter how prejudicial it might be to the interests of innocent persons, and no matter how perverse the motivation for publishing it, is a question I would not answer without further argument. See Ashwander v. TV A, 297 U. S. 288, 346-347 (Brandeis, J., concurring). I do, however, subscribe to most of what Mr. Justice Brennan says and, if ever required to face the issue squarely, may well accept his ultimate conclusion.