Media and Courts Memo

To:                         Reporter

           

From:                     Daniel Mercadante

Date:                      2, February 2013

Subject:                  Media and Courts

I am writing to inform you of the effects that today’s media can have on those that are accused. As we know from the book and federal cases throughout the years, the media can paint a sometimes, biased picture of the defendants before anything has been proven, or even a plea has been made. Tom Clark, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice suggested this problem over 45 years ago and with technology and the availability of information only getting more accessible, little has changed. Protected by Amendments, our constitution gives criminal defendants certain rights that can be obstructed by the media and the amount of people who rely on it for information. They will be further explained below along with other laws, procedures and public access we, Americans have.

The Media’s Affect on a Fair Trial

What is very important to understand from this chapter is that not all media coverage skews the reality of a news story and the intent of journalist’s is simply to inform factual information about what is already known. Significant measures have been taken over the last 50 years to protect defendants of a fair trial. The book talks about financier Billy Sol Estes who was accused of a multi-million dollar fraud whose conviction was overturned due to the presence of television cameras. Media coverage at times can generate a difficulty for judges to maintain a fair trial and proper judicial correctness. Another example of a trial that was overturned due to unfairness on the media’s part was Sheppard V. Maxwell. Sheppard was accused and found guilty of the murder of his wife. From the day of his case till the day of the verdict, the media saturated every aspect of this situation, inside the courtroom and out. There was no hard evidence that tied him to the murder yet he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his wife. It took ten years behind bars for his conviction to be overturned because of the unfairness of the press coverage. From this case, it is important to understand the importance of protecting defendants right to a fair trial. Even if he was guilty, it was overturned because of distorted perceptions the press can create.

The Courts Actions on Creating a Fair Trial for Defendants

Through a long list of trial and error, our judicial system has attempted to perfect the fairness of criminal trials. Though far from perfect, measures have been taken to guard the unjust inevitabilities suffocated media coverage creates. Some are as followed: impartial and anonymous jurors, impartial judges, continuance, juror admonition, juror sequestration, contempt, and access to open trials. I will explain some of one I feel are most important from the list above. Impartial jurors are a pivotal part of a fair trial being that it is their job to base their verdict on strictly facts presented by the courts rather than opinions they may have. The system will go to such measures to change locations of trials to protect fairness of pretrial circumstances. A policy that runs parallel with the one in the previous sentence is continuance. This is where the defendant or the attorney believes that a delay in the trial will reduce the prejudicial impact of the trial. Juror sequestration is where the judge isolates the jury from the media during highly publicized cases.

Courts have taken beneficial strides to make sure minors are receiving the same constitutional guarantees that are given to adults. Judges are also given the choice to a close court trial to protect juveniles. The severity of the crime is usually taken into consideration for a closed trial and some states have enacted laws that make certain crimes a mandatory open trial. Courts will also enact a closed trial when assault victims can be emotionally harmed by media attention.

Another way the judicial system has used its power to ensure fair trials is gags to limit extrajudicial discussion. Judges attempt to limit trial participants talking to the media by enforcing restraining orders. In other words it is controlling information at its source. This ensures that no information that could bias the opinions of followers is made available.

Publics Access to Court Records

The public and media have the right to access court records as long as it is not conflicting an interest with judicial policies and procedures. Public access of court records was granted after the famous Watergate conspiracy was uncovered and video of former president Richard Nixon was used as evidence. All access to these court cases are readily available online.