Sheppard Case
I. Sheppard v Maxwell, Warden
II. Citation 384 U.S. 333 (1966)
III. Facts:
The petitioner, Dr. Samuel Sheppard sought habeas corpus relief in the federal courts after serving seven years of a life sentence for murder. Sheppard was charged with the murder of his wife, Marilyn who also was four months pregnant. Marilyn was murdered on July 4, 1954 in the couple’s Bay Village, Ohio home. Sheppard was the primary suspect from beginning of the case and was arrested for murder on July 30. His trail began on October 18 and he was convicted on to a life sentence on December 21, 1954.
During the entire time prior to the trail, the case was highly published in many forms of the media. The case attracted massive media coverage and bias information …show more content…
Over three weeks prior to the trail, the media published the names and addresses of prospective jurors. As a result many of them received both letters and phone calls about the case.
Inside the courtroom, newsmen were allowed to take over majority of the small courtroom. Reporters were assigned seats by the court within the bar and in close proximity of the jury and counsel. This precluded privacy between the petitioner and his counsel.
IV. Legal Issues:
The petitioner filed for habeas corpus relief in the federal courts. The question was whether Sheppard was deprived of a fair trail and his right to due process according to the Sixth Amendment. Was the petitioner denied a fair trail for the second-degree murder of his wife, of which he was convicted, because of the trail judge’s failure to protect Sheppard sufficiently from the massive, pervasive, and prejudicial publicity that attended his prosecution?
V. Decision of the Court
In an 8 to 1 decision, The Supreme Court granted certiorari and reversed his conviction and ordered a new trail. Justices Douglas, Clark, Harlan II, Brennan, Stewart, White, and Goldberg were in the majority with Justice Black …show more content…
Dissenting Opinion (Justice Black)
Justice Black’s opinion stands on the principle that justice cannot survive behind walls of silence. He states American distrust secret trails as held in a prior ruling of Oliver, 333 U.S. 257. Justice Black stand behind the role of the press and that its functionality is apart of the judicial process. The role of the press not is simply to publish information but to also guard against the miscarriage of justice by the officers of the courts.
Justice Black quoted two prior rulings: Craig v Harney, 331 U.S. 367,374 “what transpires in court is public property.” The “unqualified prohibitions laid down by the framers were intended to give liberty of the press…the broadest scope that could be countenanced in an orderly society.” Bridges v California, 314 U.S. 252,265.
Black dissents there were “no threat or menace to the integrity of trail.” “the courts have consistently required that the press have a free hand, even though we sometimes deplored its sensationalism.”
VIII. Personal Opinion by
II. Citation 384 U.S. 333 (1966)
III. Facts:
The petitioner, Dr. Samuel Sheppard sought habeas corpus relief in the federal courts after serving seven years of a life sentence for murder. Sheppard was charged with the murder of his wife, Marilyn who also was four months pregnant. Marilyn was murdered on July 4, 1954 in the couple’s Bay Village, Ohio home. Sheppard was the primary suspect from beginning of the case and was arrested for murder on July 30. His trail began on October 18 and he was convicted on to a life sentence on December 21, 1954.
During the entire time prior to the trail, the case was highly published in many forms of the media. The case attracted massive media coverage and bias information …show more content…
Over three weeks prior to the trail, the media published the names and addresses of prospective jurors. As a result many of them received both letters and phone calls about the case.
Inside the courtroom, newsmen were allowed to take over majority of the small courtroom. Reporters were assigned seats by the court within the bar and in close proximity of the jury and counsel. This precluded privacy between the petitioner and his counsel.
IV. Legal Issues:
The petitioner filed for habeas corpus relief in the federal courts. The question was whether Sheppard was deprived of a fair trail and his right to due process according to the Sixth Amendment. Was the petitioner denied a fair trail for the second-degree murder of his wife, of which he was convicted, because of the trail judge’s failure to protect Sheppard sufficiently from the massive, pervasive, and prejudicial publicity that attended his prosecution?
V. Decision of the Court
In an 8 to 1 decision, The Supreme Court granted certiorari and reversed his conviction and ordered a new trail. Justices Douglas, Clark, Harlan II, Brennan, Stewart, White, and Goldberg were in the majority with Justice Black …show more content…
Dissenting Opinion (Justice Black)
Justice Black’s opinion stands on the principle that justice cannot survive behind walls of silence. He states American distrust secret trails as held in a prior ruling of Oliver, 333 U.S. 257. Justice Black stand behind the role of the press and that its functionality is apart of the judicial process. The role of the press not is simply to publish information but to also guard against the miscarriage of justice by the officers of the courts.
Justice Black quoted two prior rulings: Craig v Harney, 331 U.S. 367,374 “what transpires in court is public property.” The “unqualified prohibitions laid down by the framers were intended to give liberty of the press…the broadest scope that could be countenanced in an orderly society.” Bridges v California, 314 U.S. 252,265.
Black dissents there were “no threat or menace to the integrity of trail.” “the courts have consistently required that the press have a free hand, even though we sometimes deplored its sensationalism.”
VIII. Personal Opinion by