Today in Supreme Court History: July 29

Times-Picayune Publishing Corp. v. Schulingkamp, 419 U.S. 1301 (decided July 29, 1974): Powell stays trial judge’s prior restraint order prohibiting publication of pretrial testimony; order was to stay in effect until the end of the trial, the purpose being to prevent jury being swayed by what they read in the papers. Powell’s opinion briefly reviews Court decisions weighing the right to a public trial (First and Sixth Amendments) versus the right to an impartial jury (Sixth). Defendant, age 17 at the time and black, was accused of raping and murdering a white nurse, and Powell notes that some of the reporting was “irresponsible”. However he noted no “imminent threat” to a fair trial. (Defendant was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment; while in prison he was put on trial again for armed robbery and sentenced to 99 years. See 329 So.2d 728.)