Gannett Co. v. DePasquale - Guarantee To A Public Trial

The Sixth Amendment guarantees that "in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial." The difficulty for courts has been with balancing the requirements of the Sixth Amendment with the First Amendment--ensuring that the rights of the defendant are protected and that the rights of the press are equally protected.

As British novelist Arnold Bennett once noted, "The price of justice is eternal publicity." At one point, it appeared that the Court disagreed with this notion. Yet, more recently the Court has come to the view that both the press and the public are both equally entitled to a public trial, even at the expense of the defendant's wishes. In the groundbreaking decision, Chandler v. Florida, the Court ruled that television cameras could be placed in the courtroom, even if the defendant felt it intruded upon his right to a fair trial.