Juror Information Should
Not be Withheld from the Press Simply Because A
Case is High Profile, Declares a New Report by
the NYC Bar Association
It is unconstitutional to deny the media access
to voir dire proceedings or information on jurors
post-verdict simply because a case is high profile,
declares a new report by the New York City Bar Association.
In the report, written as a letter to the New York
State Commission on the Jury, the Association voices
its concern over recent attempts to deny media access
to jurors in both the Martha Stewart and Tyco cases.
The report concludes that if no physical danger is
present to the safety of jurors, the same level of
access to juror information should be allowed in
a high profile case as any other.
According to David Schulz, Chair of the Association’s
Communication and Media Law Committee which drafted
the report, “Access promotes informed discussion
of the jury system, generates public confidence that
deliberations are conducted fairly, and enhances
performance by jurors.” The report offers a
thorough analysis of precedent and policy and examines
the balance between the right of access and juror
privacy. The report explains that while access to
jurors can be restricted on a case-by-case basis
when it is demonstrated that there is a compelling
interest such as juror safety, the fact that a case
is high profile alone in no way meets this compelling
interest.
According to Schulz, “History repeatedly has
confirmed the value of public access to trials—including
access to jury selection and the identity of jurors.
It would be both counter-intuitive and counter productive
to decrease the scope of the public’s access
to information in those cases the public most closely
wants to follow.”
The Association of the Bar of the City of New
York was founded in 1870, and is dedicated to maintaining
the high ethical standards of the profession, promoting
reform of the law, and providing service to the
profession and the public. For more information
on this release, or to arrange for interview, please
contact Matt Kovary, Press Coordinator, at (212)
382-6713 or mkovary@nycbar.org
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