Description
Throughout its history, the Supreme Court has had a contentious relationship with the press. Yet, as Joe Mathewson shows, the Court and the Press provide crucial services for each other as well: the press educates the public about the Court's actions, and the court is charged withe protecting the freedoms on which the press relies. In The Supreme Court and the press, Mathewson charts the history of this complex dynamic, from the court's early neglect of the First Amendment through the press's coverage of today's most controversial cases. With this history in mind, Mathewson brings his expertise as a Journalist and lawyer to bear in offering a diagnosis of the current situation, as well as offering solutions to the present shortcomings in the relationship between these two essential institutions.
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Although theirs has been a contentious relationship, Joe Mathewson shows that, since the framing of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has needed the press to educate the public about its actions, just as the press has depended on the Supreme Court to ensure the freedoms that give it life. The Court ignored the First Amendment for more than a century and then trampled it, but since the 1960s it has tended to uphold the rights of the press in the face of opposition, that coming from the Executive Branch. Still, the Court has repeatedly failed to fully inform the public of its decisions. Even today the Court permits only limited access to its audio tapes of oral arguments, and it famously refuses to allow television cameras into the courtroom. Mathewson argues that if the Supreme Court wants to maintain its legitimacy and authority in the internet age it must allow broader access for the press.
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