Gag Orders

There are many forms of gag orders, but the most common is a trial judge's order that no participant in a case can talk to the news media about the case. These participants include the parties, lawyers, law enforcement officials and witnesses. Judges insist gag orders are necessary to protect the parties of the trial and preserve the fairness of the trial. Gags orders were approved in the 1966 Supreme Court case Sheppard v. Maxwell. Sheppard, accused of murdering his wife, was released from custody because of massive publicity surrounding his case. This great publicity denied him his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial.The  Supreme Court criticized that the trial judge should have gagged the participants of the Sheppard case to protect his rights. There were no standards, however, set for imposing an order. There still are no tests in lower courts for gag orders today. 

In my opinion, gag orders are a grey area. I believe in the protection of a person's right to a fair trial, however, I also believe in freedom of speech -- freedom of participants to talk to who they like and for media to gather the information they like. The release of certain information can be harmful to the protection of the party of the trial and to maintaining the fairness of the trial. But a gag order seem like a very harsh way to protect the rights of the parties of the trial. There should be a middle ground for confidentiality and the right to a fair trial that would also accommodate the first amendment.