III. Interests Served by the Public Trial Right

• Library: The Rights of the Accused under the Sixth Amendment (ABA) (2016 Ed.)

III. Interests Served by the Public Trial Right

Whether the public trial right is addressed under the First or Sixth Amendments, courts frequently cite four interests that are served by a public trial. Public trials (1) help ensure a fair trial; (2) remind the prosecutor and the judge of their responsibility to the accused and the importance of their functions; (3) encourage witnesses to come forward; and (4) discourage perjury.²³ The public trial is a "safeguard against any attempt to employ our courts as instruments of persecution. The knowledge that every criminal trial is subject to contemporaneous review in the forum of public opinion is an effective restraint on possible abuse of judicial power."²⁴ Providing a public trial to the accused assures that "the public may see he is fairly dealt with and not unjustly condemned and that the presence of interested spectators may keep his triers keenly alive to their responsibility and to the importance of their function."²⁵

People function more effectively when others are watching and their performance is the subject of public scrutiny. So it is that the...