John Peter Zenger was a newspaper journalist who wrote about his opposition to the policies of the new colonial governor, William Cosby. William Cosby replaced the Chief of Justice, Lewis Morris, with James Delancey in order to control the state’s Supreme Court. Zenger continued to write articles about William Cosby and James Delancey and on November 17, 1734, John Peter Zenger was arrested for seditious libel. His work was condemned by Cosby as false and seditious reflections. He was in jail for more than eight months. In 1735, John Peter Zenger’s trial was held in New York City. Andrew Hamilton was a lawyer who defended Zenger during his trial. Hamilton decided to plead Zenger’s case directly to the jury. The jury came to a conclusion that John Peter Zenger was not guilty. This trial was the first victory for freedom of the press in all of the American colonies.
Today, there are many issues pertaining to freedom of the press. For example, in Georgia, a trial took place where the judge issued an order prohibiting reporters from publicly revealing the testimony given at the hearing. One of the reporters present in the trial stated that there was no record of the judge’s order in the court clerk’s office, but the judge’s oral order prohibits reporting of the testimony of the hearing and the names of the people who testified. This is just one example of an issue pertaining to freedom of the press.
-Marcel Chamberlain
Marcel!
ReplyDeleteStories like this appear pretty frequently when looking at court proceedings. Do you think it's appropriate for judges to restrict freedom of the press when concerned with court trials?
Mr. Parra, this goes to you ... I believe that judges, who have the person in question giving the testimony best interest at heart, have all the right to keep testimonies out of the public. Yet, a lot of times, I believe this is not the case. For that I say that judges should not keep this type of information from the press. I think that it is the right of the people to know first hand what is going on.
ReplyDeleteVery nice response Isabella! Some restrictions might be appropriate given certain circumstances, but overall I think its important that information be available to the press and the public.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Isabella and Mr. Parra, it is crucial that the whole truth and all the information is released to the public. Even I know that if I'm reading something I want to know the real details and see opinions for myself. Freedom of speech is so important!
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