§21.5 Prior Restraints and Gag Orders

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§21.5 PRIOR RESTRAINTS AND GAG ORDERS

The right of the press in the United States to publish information about crimes and court proceedings is almost absolute. In Nebraska Press Ass'n v. Stuart,427 U.S. 539, 96 S. Ct. 2791, 49 L. Ed. 2d 683 (1976), the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a gag order in a sensational murder trial and held that such a prior restraint on publication could withstand First Amendment attack only if no alternative measures would likely mitigate the effects of pretrial publicity (e.g., change of venue, postponement, voir dire, emphatic jury instructions, and sequestration), and also only if the "gag" would effectively prevent the predicted harm. In Columbia Broadcasting Systems,...