ATTORNEY PAUL A. KSICINSKI 414-530-5214
ATTORNEY PAUL A. KSICINSKI
TOP 100 WISCONSIN CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER
​414-530-5214
  • Home
  • References
  • PEER ENDORSEMENTS
  • PAST CASES
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
  • How to deal with police
  • Practice Areas
  • About
  • Criminal Law Links
  • News

Discussion of current legal issues

Henry Nellum case selected by USA Network as a compelling homicide trial to keep an eye on in 2018

Button Text

THE PUBLIC HAS A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT OF ACCESS TO CIVIL TRIALS

12/30/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture

“[H]istorically both civil and criminal trials have been presumptively open."  Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 580 n.17 (1980).  “As early as 1685, Sir John Hawles commented that open proceedings were necessary so "that truth may be discovered in civil as well as criminal matters. . . . The experience in the American Colonies was analogous. From the beginning, the norm was open trials."  Gannett Co., Inc. v. DePasquale, 443 U.S. 368, 386-87 n. 15 (1979) (emphasis added).  A celebrated dictum in a number of high court cases declares broadly that "[a] trial is a public event" and that "[w]hat transpires in the court room is public property." Craig v. Harney 331 U.S. 367, 374 (1947); In re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257, 266, 272 (1948).  Today many courts recognize testimony in civil proceedings cannot be provided in private places but rather should be in open court with public access.  Publicker Indus., Inc. v. Cohen, 733 F.2d 1059, 1061 (3rd Cir. 1984) (“the First Amendment does secure a right of access to civil proceedings”); Westmoreland v. CBS, 752 F.2d 16, 23 (2nd Cir. 1984) (“we agree with the Third Circuit in Publicker Industries … that the First Amendment does secure to the public and to the press a right of access to civil proceedings in accordance with the dicta of the Justices in Richmond Newspapers.”
 
Open trials enhance the performance and accuracy of trial proceedings, educate the public, and serve a "therapeutic" value to the community.  Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. at 569-573.  Critically, “there is no principled basis upon which a public right of access to judicial proceedings can be limited to criminal cases.”  Gannett Co., Inc. v. DePasquale, id.  Likewise, the public right to access is the same in a family law case as in an ordinary civil case.  In re Marriage of Burkle, 135 Cal.App.4th 1045 (2006) (The same First Amendment right of access applicable in "ordinary civil cases" applies in divorce proceedings.).
 
Justice Brennan's concurring opinion in Richmond Newspapers, explains that there are historical and structural reasons to have public trials open to the public.  Historically, “public trials have been the essentially unwavering rule in ancestral England and in our own Nation.  Such abiding adherence to the principle of open trials 'reflect[s] a profound judgment about the way in which law should be enforced and justice administered.' " Id., at p. 593. Citations and footnote omitted.  Structurally, open trials serve to demonstrate that justice is meted out fairly, thereby promoting public confidence in such governmental proceedings, id., at pp. 594-596, "[m]ore importantly," open trials provide a means, "akin in purpose to the other checks and balances that infuse our system of government," by which citizens scrutinize and "check" the use and possible abuse of judicial power, id., at p. 596; and finally, "with some limitations", open trials serve to enhance the truth-finding function of the proceeding, id., at pp. 596-597. Justice Brennan concluded: "Popular attendance at trials, in sum, substantially furthers the particular public purposes of that critical judicial proceeding. In that sense, public access is an indispensable element of the trial process itself. Trial access, therefore, assumes structural importance in our 'government of laws.'" Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 597, footnote omitted.  See also, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. v. F.T.C. 710 F.2d 1165, 1179 (6th Cir. 1983) (secrecy in either the civil or criminal courtroom insulates the participants, masking impropriety, obscuring incompetence, and concealing corruption).

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    These are reflections I have had about our criminal justice system.  Some of it may make sense, some of it might not.

    Archives

    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.