V. Partial Closures

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

V. Partial Closures

An open question after Presley is whether partial closures could ever be sustained on a showing of less than an overriding interest. Some jurisdictions had applied a lesser standard of a "substantial reason" for a partial closure.⁵⁵ The Sixth Circuit recently observed that "there are reasonable arguments that Waller does not apply to partial-closure cases in the wholesale manner" applicable to complete closures.⁵⁶ Amid this unsettled state of the law, one state high court has recognized that in light of Presley, the question of whether the closure was total or partial was immaterial.⁵⁷ In Longus v. State, the courtroom remained open to all but three spectators (including the defendant's father) who were excluded on the basis that they had allegedly tried to intimidate a witness.⁵⁸ The trial court did not apply the Supreme Court's overriding interest standard and the intermediate court of appeals found that the judge had met the "substantial reason" standard required for a partial closure.⁵⁹ The Maryland Court of Appeals determined that the substantial reason test was inadequate to protect the defendant's interest because "[t]he Waller test, in requiring an...