''Chandler v. Florida'', 449 U.S. 560 (1981), was a

legal case A legal case is in a general sense a dispute between opposing parties which may be resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case is typically based on either civil or criminal law. In most legal cases there are one or mor ...

in which the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

held that a state could allow the broadcast and still photography coverage of criminal trials. While refraining from formally overruling '' Estes v. Texas'', which in 1965 held that media coverage was "infringing the fundamental

right to a fair trial A fair trial is a trial which is "conducted fairly, justly, and with procedural regularity by an impartial judge". Various rights associated with a fair trial are explicitly proclaimed in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, th ...

guaranteed by the

Due Process Clause In United States constitutional law, a Due Process Clause is found in both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, which prohibits arbitrary deprivation of "life, liberty, or property" by the government except as ...

of the Fourteenth Amendment," it effectively did so.

Background

After the media was allowed to televise a portion of their case, two

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

police officers filed suit objecting to the coverage case. The two police officers were charged with burglarizing a Miami Beach restaurant.

Question Before the Court

Does media coverage of a criminal's trial violate the accused right to a fair trial protected by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments?

Decision of the Court

In an 8-0 decision in favor of the State of Florida,

Chief Justice Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul Colleg ...

wrote the opinion for the Supreme Court. Citing ''Estes v. Texas'' (1964), the Court denied Chandler's claim that a media presence in the courtroom is offensive to due process. So long as the "evolving technology" does not infringe on "fundamental guarantees" of the accused, the media does not violate a person's constitutional right to due process. Further, the Court noted that the previous statute upheld by the Florida State Supreme Court implemented strict guidelines "intended to protect the right of a defendant to a fair trial" in regards to the medias coverage of a criminal trial..

References

External links

* United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court United States Free Speech Clause case law United States criminal due process case law 1981 in United States case law {{SCOTUS-case-stub

Background

Question Before the Court

Decision of the Court

See also

References

Further reading

External links