Find Court Cases > Nebraska Press Assoc. v. Stuart

Nebraska Press Assoc. v. Stuart

Case Date: 04/19/1976
Docket No: none

Facts of the Case 

A Nebraska state trial judge, presiding over a widely publicized murder trial, entered an order restraining members of the press from publishing or broadcasting accounts of confessions made by the accused to the police. The judge felt that this measure was necessary to guarantee a fair trial to the accused.

Question 

Did the judge's order violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments?

Argument Nebraska Press Assoc. v. Stuart - Oral ArgumentFull Transcript Text  Download MP3Nebraska Press Assoc. v. Stuart - Opinion Announcement  Download MP3 Conclusion  Decision: 9 votes for Nebraska Press Assoc., 0 vote(s) against Legal provision: Amendment 1: Speech, Press, and Assembly

Yes. The Court agreed with the trial judge that the murder case would generate "intense and pervasive pretrial publicity." However, the unanimous court held that the practical problems associated with implementing a prior restraint on the press in this case would not have served the accused's rights. Chief Justice Burger reasoned that"a whole community cannot be restrained from discussing a subject intimately affecting life within it."