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Back to topMurder, Courts, and the Press: Issues in Free Press/Fair Trial (Paperback)
Description
When murder is the crime, the clash in the courts is likely to be between two constitutionally enshrined rights—freedom of speech vs. the right to a fair trial.
Kane shows what actually happened in five famous court cases when First Amendment rights (freedom of speech) conflicted with Sixth Amendment rights (fair trial). He reports the circumstances of each crime, the court proceedings, and the conduct of the press in the Sam Sheppard murder case, the Tate-LaBianca murders, the Kellie family murders, the Wayne Clapp disappearance, and the Lillian Keller case. He “combines a description of the realities of the cases with an analysis of the opinions of the United States Supreme Court designed to explain the legal principles imbedded in those positions.”
His narrative and analysis approach provides interesting stories that illuminate legal principles and show the roles of actual human beings underlying the abstractions of court opinions.
About the Author
Peter E. Kane is Professor of Communication, State University of New York, College at Brockport. He has served as editor of both FreeSpeech and FreeSpeech Yearbook.