''Estes v. Texas'', 381 U.S. 532 (1965), was a case in which the

United States Supreme Court 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 ...

overturned the fraud conviction of petitioner

Billy Sol Estes Billie Sol Estes (January 10, 1925 – May 14, 2013) was an American businessman and financier best known for his involvement in a business fraud scandal that complicated his ties to friend and future U.S. President Lyndon Johnson. Early life Es ...

, holding that his Fourteenth Amendment

due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...

rights had been violated by the publicity associated with the pretrial hearing, which had been carried live on both

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

. News photography was permitted throughout the trial and parts of it were broadcast as well. There was no doubt that the Court was displeased with the intensive pretrial and trial coverage, but its biggest concern was the presence of

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

s at the two-day-long pretrial hearing. It included at least 12 still and television

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

s, three

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

s on the

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

's bench, and several aimed at the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

's box and

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

's table. When it was time for the trial to be held, it was moved about 500 miles away and the judge had imposed rather severe restrictions on press coverage. However, the justices did mark the notion that cameras would return to courtrooms eventually: :It is said that the ever-advancing techniques of public communication and the adjustment of the public to its presence may bring about a change in the effect of telecasting upon the fairness of criminal trials. But we are not dealing here with future developments in the field of electronics. Our judgment cannot be rested on the hypothesis of tomorrow but must take the facts as they are presented today." The Supreme Court ruled in ''

Chandler v. Florida ''Chandler v. Florida'', 449 U.S. 560 (1981), was a legal case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a state could allow the broadcast and still photography coverage of criminal trials. While refraining from formally overrulin ...

'', 449 U.S. 560 (1981) that a state could allow the broadcast and still photography coverage of criminal trials.

External links

* * {{caselaw source , case = ''Estes v. Texas'', {{ussc, 381, 532, 1965, el=no , courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/107083/estes-v-texas/ , findlaw = https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/381/532.html , googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8621612766167971303 , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/381/532/ , loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep381/usrep381532/usrep381532.pdf , oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/1964/256 United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court United States Free Speech Clause case law United States criminal due process case law 1965 in United States case law