The quick dissemination and easy accessibility of information and viewpoints via the Internet is ideal in most contexts, except perhaps in a trial setting.
The ever-increasing use of the Internet can threaten the delicate balance between the free speech rights of trial participants and a litigant’s right to a fair trial. A party in any case, criminal or civil, is entitled to a fair trial. To ensure a fair trial, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized long ago, in Sheppard v. Maxwell(1966), that a trial court may proscribe extrajudicial statements by any trial participant, such as a lawyer, party, witness or court official. A trial participant’s First Amendment speech rights may be trumped by the right of all parties to a fair trial where there is a reasonable likelihood that statements could prevent a fair trial, as seen in other U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Dow Jones & Co. v. Simon(1988) and United States v. King(2000).
