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Court overturns closure of hearing for juvenile charged with murder

Article Abstract:

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that the state's family court cannot deny access to its proceedings on procedural grounds and that the party seeking closure, not the press or the public, has the burden of proving the necessity of closure. In Ex parte The Island Packet, a juvenile was being held for murder and the state family court had closed the hearings to determine whether he would be tried as adult from the press. The Supreme Court stated the press could not be barred because they failed to request access on time.

Public and closed trials, Right to public trial, Juvenile justice, Administration of, Administration of juvenile justice

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Appeals court allows brief closure of trial

Article Abstract:

The California Supreme Court ruled in People v. Woodward that a failure to advise a criminal defendant of the temporary closure of his trial was a violation of his due process rights but not an error of sufficient magnitude to justify the reversal of his conviction. The closure only lasted 90 minutes and was held not to be a violation of the right to public trial.

Due process of law, Judicial error

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