As is often the case, there's a distinction between what you have a right to do and what's right to do.
Since the judge didn't seal the record of the voir dire, the names and addresses of the jurors are on the public record, accessible to anyone who took the trouble to look for the transcript. But publication of the names certainly made it easier for anyone wishing a juror harm and the Post's illustration made it easier still (although, of course, the defendant, sitting in the courtroom, would have the information and could pass it on without the newspaper's help.)
As Ms. Stein (no relation) notes, this kind of thing gets legislative salivary glands working, and on that score the job of anyone who cares about the Constitution is to defend the Post. Both the First Amendment and the Sixth protect the publication of this information.
But that doesn't mean the Post should not be criticized. The defense the editor makes--"How do you know if the jury is impartial if you don't know who they are and something about them?"--is awfully abstract. There's no suggestion that the newspaper thought the jurors weren't impartial or that it did any investigating of their background on its own, so describing the background, ages, race and occupation of the jurors without naming them would have accomplished as much as the Post's infographic did.
As to "an AP Stylebook on ethics," I say thank goodness we don't have one. As Fred Friendly (you could look him up) used to say, there are some decisions that are so difficult that the only way to reach them is to think.
Bernard L. Stein
---- Original message ----
>Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:21:48 -0700
>From: Elizabeth Stein <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Reactions? Comments?
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>In my limited experience in the field, this kind of
>behavior is the type of behavior that prompts
>legislators to attempt to curtail free speech. This
>was, I think, clearly unethical journalism (and the
>suggestion offered by Steele (to provide info, not
>names) seems the right one.
>
>That said, navigating the complicated moral code of
>journalism is very complicated.
>
>How are we meant to be guided? Is there a fundamental
>text, like an AP Stylebook on ethics? How to navigate
>the changing world, in which bloggers write about
>similar things to journalists but without much of the
>self-imposed restriction?
>
>Interesting floodgates,
>Liz
>--- "Gorelick, Steve" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> I really haven't fully thought this through. Maybe
>> some of you can help me sort it out. I'm torn.
>>
>> Steve
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> From: Gorelick, Steve
>> Sent: Mon 9/17/2007 10:11 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Reactions? Comments?
>>
>>
>> The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/>
>> <http://graphics8.nytimes.com/ads/spacer.gif>
>> Printer Friendly Format Sponsored By
>>
><http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nytimes.com/printer-friendly&pos=Position1&camp=foxsearch2007-emailtools02d-nyt5-511278&ad=dej_button.gif&goto=http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thedarjeelinglimited/>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> September 17, 2007
>>
>> A Newspaper Defends Naming Jurors
>>
>> By DESIREE J. HANFORD
>>
>> On Sept. 9, the front page of The Connecticut Post,
>> a daily paper based in Bridgeport, was dominated by
>> a story about the jury selection process in a court
>> case that involved the death penalty. Accompanying
>> the story was an illustration of 18 empty chairs
>> with personal information about each juror, like
>> their name, hometown and occupation.
>>
>> On Sept. 10, a Connecticut Superior Court judge,
>> Robert J. Devlin Jr., excused one juror and one
>> alternate after they expressed concern for their
>> personal safety. The defendant's lawyer asked for a
>> mistrial based on what the paper wrote, but his
>> request was denied.
>>
>> Did the paper do wrong? No, says James H. Smith,
>> editor of The Connecticut Post, which is owned by
>> the MediaNews Group.
>>
>> The law does not prohibit the publication of jurors'
>> names, though sometimes judges will decide not to
>> make the names public. That did not happen in this
>> case, and MariAn Gail Brown, the reporter, said that
>> everyone involved knew that she was working on such
>> an article.
>>
>> Her editor, Mr. Smith, offers no apologies. "The
>> U.S. Constitution calls for a public trial with an
>> impartial jury," he said. "How do you know if the
>> jury is impartial if you don't know who they are and
>> something about them?"
>>
>> Given the facts of the case, however, the jurors may
>> have had reason to fear retribution: the defendant,
>> Russell Peeler Jr., was convicted of ordering his
>> younger brother to kill 8-year-old Leroy Brown
>>
><http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/leroy_jr_brown/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
>> and his mother, Karen Clarke
>>
><http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/karen_clarke/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
>> , in 1999. Leroy Brown had been meant to testify
>> against Mr. Peeler for killing his mother's
>> boyfriend. The jury was to decide if Mr. Peeler
>> should spend life in prison or die by lethal
>> injection.
>>
>> In an article published by The Connecticut Post, Mr.
>> Peeler's lawyer, Erskine McIntosh, spoke out against
>> the paper, accusing it of "journalistic misconduct."
>>
>>
>> He also said, "I can barely put into words my
>> disgust with The Connecticut Post."
>>
>> Some less partial observers - journalism professors
>> - also said they thought the paper may have shown
>> poor judgment.
>>
>> Publishing the jurors' names could expose them to
>> pressure from advocates on both sides of the death
>> penalty, said Christopher Hanson, who teaches
>> journalism ethics at the University of Maryland
>>
><http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_maryland/index.html?inline=nyt-org>
>> . Newspapers need to balance the public's right to
>> know with the potential risk of harm to jurors, he
>> said.
>>
>> One alternative would have been to have given
>> substantive details about the jurors, but no names,
>> said Robert M. Steele, a faculty member at the
>> Poynter Institute, a journalism school.
>>
>> The newspaper also could have waited until the
>> proceedings were complete, he said.
>>
>> As for Mr. Smith, the editor, said if he had it to
>> do over again, he would have skipped the
>> illustration. "I'd let the story speak for itself,"
>> he said.
>>
>>
>>
><http://std.o.nytimes.com/b/ss/nytimesglobaluns/1/G.9p1/s85559473540629?[AQB]&ndh=1&t=17/8/2007%2010%3A3%3A4%201%20240&cdp=3&pageName=/2007/09/17/business/media/17mob.html&g=http%3A//www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/business/media/17mob.html%3F_r%3D1%26oref%3Dslogin%26partner%3Drssnyt%26emc%3Drss%26pagewanted%3Dprint&r=http%3A//www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/business/media/17mob.html%3F_r%3D1%26partner%3Drssnyt%26emc%3Drss%26oref%3Dslogin&ch=business&events=event5&cc=USD&c1=article%3A%20print&c2=media%20%26%20advertising&c3=registered&v4=/2007/09/17/business/media/17mob.html&c5=1154689730087&v6=article%3A%20print&c8=http%3A//www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/business/media/17mob.html&v8=business&c9=slogin&c13=A%20Newspaper%20Defends%20Naming%20Jurors%20-%20New%20York%20Times&c20=0&pid=/2007/09/17/business/media/17mob.html&pidt=1&oid=http%3A//www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/business/media/17mob.html%3F_r%3D1%26oref%3Dslogin%26partner%3Drssnyt%26emc%3Drss%26&ot=A&oi=211&s=1280x1024&c=32&j=1.3&v=Y&
>k=Y&bw=724&bh=549&ct=lan&hp=N&[AQE]>
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