Pre-trial Publicity
This is an excerpt from the paper...
Pre-trial publicity is a controversy that has raged through our constitutional system since its beginning. Moreover, how this publicity may adversely effect a defendant's right to an impartial jury has created no less a controversy. The relationship between America's news media and its courts differs from the comparable relationship anywhere else in the world. In totalitarian countries, for example, the court and the media are expected to serve the government in power; by the press being obliged to act in the role of propagandist, and by the courts being used to repress opposition to the government. In America, the courts have the responsibility to protect citizens' rights, and are a separate branch of government. The press, oftentimes referred to as the Fourth Estate, is not a part of the government, and, on the contrary, has a long and remarkable tradition of criticizing the government by exposing its mistakes and abuses. The courts and the press have, in fact, become watchdogs of each other.No matter how independent the courts may be from other government branches, they are still a part of government, and, as such, they are subject to the scrutiny of the press and their criticisms. The courts, meanwhile, have the seemingly conflicting duties of protecting the rights of the press and protecting the rights of others from being violated by the press. The courts and the press have been described as allies and adversaries: allies in the continuing task of preserving the freed
. . .
iety as a whole.
Criminal jury trials are rare, dramatic, and involve highly contested and more fractious issues. They are governed by precise and formal rituals that are as exacting as a coronation. The trial process has a construction and an order of its own, and has its own rules, traditions and rationales. Odd as it may be, the term "fair trial" does not appear in the Constitution. Rather, the Constitution as originally passed guaranteed only the right of citizens to be tried by a jury, and that they were entitled to "due process of law." As strange as it may appear, there is a logic: if a "fair trial" is the goal, and "due process of law," which is a system of rules of procedure that can be evenly applied to all parties, is the best means of reaching that goal, therefore "due process of law" is the best means of reaching the goal of a fair trial. In non criminal cases, decisions are usually made by a judge; in criminal cases, in which the defendant so chooses, the decision is made by a jury.
A jury consists of a defendant's "peers," which has usually been interpreted to mean ordinary people chosen from the community at large. The jury is expected to make its decision solely on the basis of the arguments and evidence presen
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Court Court, Constitutional Amendment, Constitution Constitution, Sixth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, Fourth Estate, , Amendments Amendment, Amendment Constitution, Fifth Amendment, fair trial, pretrial publicity, impartial jury, due process, press coverage, due process law, process law, free press, amendment provides, prior restraint, trial impartial, trial impartial jury, defendant's impartial jury, property due process, publicity defendant's impartial,
Approximate Word count = 3893
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)
More Essays on Pre-trial Publicity
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
