Juror Journalism

Abstract

The conflict between freedom of speech and the right to a fair trial is hardly new. Hundreds of articles have been written attempting to reconcile the constitutional demand that the defendant receives a fair trial with First Amendment issues posed by pretrial publicity, cameras in the courtroom, or the gagging of lawyers who attempt to try their cases in public. In recent years, however, a new face to the conflict has appeared, having to do not with lawyers or the news media, but with the jury. Increasingly, individuals have tried to capitalize on their jury service by selling their perspective on the trial. This practice of "juror journalism" has been criticized by numerous academics and even lambasted by many journalists as threatening the integrity and fairness of the trial. The fear is that the profit motive may affect the juror's ability to fairly, openly, and without bias deliberate and render a just verdict.