FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

Prior Restraint Prior restraint: censorship of information before it is published is FORBIDDEN in the U.S. Near v. Minnesota (1931): MN law prohibiting any “malicious, scandalous, or defamatory” newspapers or magazines Unconstitutional because it involved prior restraint NY Times Co. v. U.S. (1971): leaked “Pentagon Papers” published, government seeks to stop further publication arguing national security would be endangered… Court rules stopping the publication = prior restraint

Fair Trials & Free Press When does the right to a fair trial (6th Amendment) outweigh the right to a free press (1st Amendment)? Sheppard v. Maxwell (1966): Dr. accused of killing his wife, pretrial news practically called him guilty Supreme Court ruled press coverage interfered with his right to a fair trial What can judges do? 1.Move the trial to reduce pretrial publicity 2.Limit the number of reporters in the courtroom 3.Place controls on reporters’ conduct in the courtroom 4.Isolate witnesses and jurors from the press 5.Keep the jury sequestered (isolated) until the trial is over

Free Press & TV, Internet & Obscenity FCC: Federal Communication Commission Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC (1997): cable tv operators should have more 1st Amendment protection from government regulation than other broadcasters, but not as much as newspapers and magazines U.S. v. Playboy (2000): cable operators’ rights were violated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which required cable operators to block or limit transmission of sexually oriented programs to protect young viewers Internet: To what level is Internet speech protected? Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997): speech on the Internet was closer to print media than broadcast media and thus given high protection Obscenity: who defines it????? Miller v. CA (1973): local communities should set their own standards for obscenity