Access
Youthfu l T h u gs Beware The Supreme Court ruled J u ne 26 t hat a state can no t p u n i s h a newspaper for pri n t ing the name of a m i n or charged with a cri m e . The decision wil l probably apply t o s t udent newspapers. Stri king down a West Virginia sta£ u te, C hi e f J ust ice Warren Burger wrote for the majority that " i f a newspaper lawfully obt ai n s tru tMul i n formation about a ma t ter o f public s igni ficance t hen s t ate o fficials may not const i t u t ionally pu nish publ ication o f t h e i n format ion except t o further a state i n t erest o f t h e h ighest order . " There was apparently some disagree ment , however, over what constit utes an " i nterest of t he hi ghest order . " J o i ned by Just ices Bren nan , Stewart, White, M arshal l , Blac k m u n and S t e ven s , Burger wrote t h a t t h e protect ion o f a j u ven i le ' s anonymity is not im por tant enough 10 j usti fy su ppression o f t he pres s . " [Sjtate action to p u n ish t h e publi cation o f t r ut h fu l i n formation seldom can satisfy const i t utional standards," his o pi nion st a ted . Justice Reh nquist d isagreed and sug gested in a separate opin ion that t here may be con s t i t u t ionally acceptable ways t o prohibit reporters from print ing t he names o f j uven ile o ffender s . " I n m y v i e w , a state'� interest i n pre serving the anonym ity o f its juvenile o ffen ders . . . far oulweighs any mini mal in ter ference wit h freedom of t he press t hat a ban on pu b lication o f the yout h s ' names ent a i l s , " he wrote. Rehnquist said his o n ly o bjection (0 t he West V i rginia stat ute u nder q ues t ion was t hat it appl ied only t o n ewspa pers and t hus violated the equal pro tect ion mandate of t he Fou r tee n t h Amendmen t .
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FLOR IDA
i
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And
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the Boca Raton ( Florida] prosecu t o r ' s
o ffice ha.� a n n o u nced i t w i l l release t he
.: ;;.-
names
of j u ve n i l e o ffenders
to
the
med i a . Boca Raton is one o f t he first Flor
ida cit ies t o make p u b lic t h e names of such o ffenders. Most o t hers release t he Srates may no lo n ger prohibit /he
publicarion of arresred youths ' names
names of paren t s o f minors charged w i t h crimes. ----
"[S]tate action to pun ish the publication of truthful information seldom can satisfy constitutional sta ndards." year-old student al leged to have shot and k i l led his 1 5-year-old class mate at Hayes Junior High School i n St . A lbans, West V i rg i n i a . On M a r c h 1 , 1 97 8 , a grand j u ry re t urned an indictment agai n s t the pa pers for violat ing a s t a t e s t a t u t e that provided for cri m i n a l penalt ies for t he p u b l ication of a l l eged j u venile uffend ers' names. The t wo papers filed suit in t h e West V irgi nia Supreme Court of Appea l s . challenging t h e con st i t u tionali t y o f the stat u t e . The court found that t he law violat ed bot h t he First and Fou r t ee n t h Amendments, a s did t h e U . S . S u preme Court on appea l . Smith v . Daily Mail • Publishing Co.
You, Too,
I n a brea k w i t h trad i t i o n a l policy.
j
;
" I t h i n k , " R e h nq u ist w rote , " t hat a general effect ive ban on publication t hat applied t o a l l forms of mass com mu nica t io n , electronic and print media a l i ke, would be cons t i t u t ional . · · None( h e l ess, seven o f t he eight jus t ices who too k part in the d e l i bera t i o n s fell t hat " ( t ]he magni t ud e o f the state ' s i n terest in ( hi s s t a t u t e is n o t su fficient to j ust i fy app l icat ion of a criminal pen alty " t o publishers. The case first arose when The Char leston Daily Mail a n d t he Charleston Daily Gazeffe pr inted t he name of a 1 4-
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Parents
A state stat ute a llows for t he publi cation o f young o ffenders ' names i f the media can obtai n them . The Florida Freedom o f I n formation Clearing house reported i n April that Boca city attorney Al Galbreth interprets "publi cat ion " t o include "shouting [the names] from the steps of city hall or verbalizing t h e m 10 the media . " Local police are reportedly pleased w i t h t he new policy . •
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Fa l l 1979
SPLC
Report13