EL VOCERO DE PUERTO RICO v. PUERTO RICO
Supreme Court Cases
508 U.S. 147 (1993)
Case Overview
Legal Principle at Issue
Whether Puerto Rico's Rule of Criminal Procedure, which mandated that preliminary criminal hearings be held privately unless the defendant requested otherwise, violated the First Amendment right of public access to judicial proceedings.
Action
Reversed. Petitioning party received a favorable disposition.
Facts/Syllabus
Puerto Rico Rule of Criminal Procedure 23(c) provides that preliminary hearings in criminal cases "shall be held privately" unless the defendant requests otherwise. Petitioners, a newspaper and reporter, challenged this provision, claiming that it violates the First Amendment for the same reasons that a similar California law was struck down in Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of California, County of Riverside (1986). There, this court applied the experience and logic test of Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court of County of Norfolk (1982), to hold that preliminary criminal hearings have traditionally been public and that California's hearings were sufficiently like a trial that public access was essential to their proper functioning.
The Puerto Rico Superior Court dismissed petitioners' suit, and the Commonwealth's Supreme Court affirmed, holding that several differences between California hearings and Rule 23(c) hearings made Press-Enterprise inapposite. Applying the Globe Newspaper tests anew, it concluded that closed hearings were compatible with the Commonwealth's unique history and traditions and that open hearings would prejudice defendants' rights to fair trials because of Puerto Rico's small size and dense population.The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico affirmed, holding that several differences between California hearings and Rule 23(c) hearings made Press-Enterprise inapposite. Applying the Globe Newspaper tests anew, it concluded that closed hearings were compatible with the commonwealth's unique history and traditions and that open hearings would prejudice defendants' rights to fair trials because of Puerto Rico's small size and dense population.