UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Abstract
In Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the public and press have a First Amendment right of access to criminal trials. The 1980 decision left many questions unanswered, however. Among them is whether the public's right to attend will someday be extended to include civil trials. This note analyzes the Richmond decision, examines the history of the public civil trial, and arrives at an answer to this question. The currently-recognized exceptions to the open civil trial are then examined, with particular attention paid to the various state statutes which authorize trial closure in certain situations. Finally, the note discusses the impact which a public right to attend might have on the current state law.
Recommended Citation
Doug Gummerman,
After Richmond Newspapers: A Public Right to Attend Civil Trials,
4 UC Law SF Comm. & Ent. L.J. 291
(1981).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_comm_ent_law_journal/vol4/iss2/4
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