Word: restraint
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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These words, written by Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan in a 1976 case, reflect the vigilance against censorship that has pervaded the Court's attitude for most of this century. The American judicial system has long recognized prior restraint of speech as antithetical to the principles of democracy. But a decision last week proved a dangerous departure from that tradition. By refusing to strike down a ban on broadcast of the so-called Noriega tapes, the Court gave encouragement to those would seek further regulation of the press...
...past, the Court has struck down every prior restraint it has considered on the merits. It has also recognized the good served by the airing of alleged government misconduct and granted the press special leeway in those cases. The CNN dispute fits squarely into that mould. The power that the national media can wield may be frightening, but it is mild in comparison to the danger of placing editorial decisions in the hands of the judiciary. Moreover, given the questionable complicity between Noriega and the United States Government, we cannot allow that secrecy to continue...
...talks specifically involve a prisoner's attorneys. The question was whether the tapings violated the no-eavesdropping rule. Noriega's lawyers argued that the Sixth Amendment protection of Noriega's privileged communication with counsel had in fact been violated. Meanwhile, CNN claimed that its First Amendment freedoms from prior restraint had been abridged...
...court is expected to hand down a ruling on the injunction this week. It has never upheld the issuance of a prior restraint on the publication or broadcast of news, considering it, in a 1976 decision, to be the "most serious and least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights...
...William Hoeveler, who is supposed to try Noriega's case in January. Earlier in the week, the judge had decried his "unfortunate and difficult task of resolving a conflict between two fundamental constitutional rights," the right to counsel vs. the "sacrosanct" First Amendment freedom of the press from prior restraint...