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Show iylniiM y The Sail Lake Tribune. Saturday, June uyiy I 28, I!kii Jack C. Lmlau Constitutional Battle Gearing Over Television in Courtrooms Newhouse News Service WASHINGTON The nations print and broadcast news media are gearing up for the first major constitutional battle in 15 years on issue of whether television should be allowed to cover criminal trials. the Virtually every press organization in the nation is planning to file a brief in the Supreme Court urging the court to uphold the constitutionality of a Florida plan which permits the televising of criminal trials even if the criminal defendant objects. On the other side of the issue, defense lawyers, public defenders and some judges are expected to tell the Supreme Court that television ought to be entirely barred from criminal trials or at least if the criminal defendant objects to its presence. The case, which the Supreme Court agreed to review two months ago, is expected to have a profound effect on the entire movement to broadcast both trial and appellate court proceedings. Currently, experimental or permanent plans oil television coverage are in effect in 26 states with another mno states seriously considering authorizing such broadcasting. While more and more states are admitting television, h their courtrooms, the federal courts remain- adamantly opposed Chief Justice Warren Burger, with his acknowledged hostility toward teelevision, is responsible tor a substantial part of the federal court opposition to the broadcast media. His sentiments are shared by a majority of the Federal Judicial body lor the Conference, the top policy-makin- g federal courts, of which the chief justice is chairman. Another factor that may complicate the Supreme Court test case occurred when riots broke out in a predominantly black area of Miami following the aiquittal by an jury of four white policemen indicted on charges of fatally heating a black businessman. The jurys verdict, and the elated reaction of the four police officers, were shown on television in Miami, and opponents of cameras in the courtrooms are now citing this incident as an additional justification to restrict television trial coverage. Proponents of television argue that an outburst occurred m San Francisco last year when some members of the homosexual community attacked City Hall because they were dissatisfied with what they considered a too lenient sentence Imposed on a man convicted of killing a homosexual San Francisco city supervisor. That trial was not televised, and therefore, it Is being argued, the Miami reaction should not be taken as a reason to limit television. The first time the Supreme Court took a look at television in the courtroom was back in 1965. It ruled, in the Billie Sol Estes case, that a Texas criminal fraud defendant had been The Public Forum Tribune Readers Opinions Tracks Look Messy The railroad construction mess has been y since littering the Union Pacific last fall. It is particularly apparent where the tracks parallel the highway; from Farmington south. I had assumed that snow was expected to cover up the rusty iron plates, the metal buckets and burst sacks which litter the side of the track, and that they would be cleaned up come spring. However, the snow was not sufficient to cover the debris, and no attempt has been right-of-wa- Forum Ruin Public Forum letters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writer's full name, signature and address. Names must be printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reasons on others. Writers are limited to one letter every 10 days. Reference will be given to short, typewritten (double spaced) letters permitting use of the writer's true name. Ail letters are subject to condensation. Mail to the Public Forum, The Salt Lake Tribune, Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84110. one world government. The sovereignty of nations to be completely wiped out and a huge homogenizing of the various countries established, free and communist, into one great new world order. The many efforts constantly being made to rid the United States of its productive enterprising middle class give sure an unmistakable evidence that the Trilateralists are pursuing the attainment of their goal. In a new world order there would be no middle class. There would be only the ruling elitist group, with everybody else relegated to low class status, with no freedom, no liberty. Another name for this is slavery. WINIFRED STIEGLEMAR Phoenix Whip Willing Horse h made to tidy things up. I suppose that now the weeds are expected to shield the passersby from the evidence of mans carelessness. The artifacts can still be seen, however, and are not an edifying sight, either to those of us who live in the area or to tourists who may have heard much of the beauty of this state. I wrote to the public relations department of Union Pacific, but since UP has a virtual monopoly on the railroad industry in Utah, I imagine that the feeling is that these irrelevant matters dont count after all, it is UP land and who needs to worry about public relations anyway. Or, perhaps the feeling is that, given enough years, it will be absorbed by good old Mother Nature. Still, one would think UP would like to present a better image to the public. 1 r law in Utah thought there was an or is that only for private citizens, not industry? anti-litte- DORIS BURCK Kaysville Voted for Draft From the best source I have been able to find, all our Utah representatives veted to restore the draft. This brings to life again a huge government bureau to be funded forever." Instead of the draft boards, why not use the even money to Increase the pay for the GI offer him pay with no tax deductions? With an unemployment rate of more than 8 percent as a prospect, the military could pick and choose among volunteers. Young men and their parents could completely change the political scene. A walk to the polls this November could save a lot of marching. KATHARYN Y. REES DiMmers Plot The Trilateral Commission has been gradually coming to the attention of the public. Recently, Arizonans have had cause to give serious thought to the organization when they learned the governor of Arizona had become a member of this elitist group. Exactly what the Trilateral Commission is and the reason for its existence is rather vague in the minds of many Americans. It is not some kind of innoeous club, as some columnists would have us believe. It is headed by David Rockefeller and its membership is composed of scholars, public officials, persons from big banking and from the professions. The countries represented are western Europe. Japan and the United States. Their aim is, simply put, th J. L. NASH Grim March Unless enough people stand up and say "no! " the geographical center ol the great west will soon stage an immense array of nuclear fortresses. Such factors as size, price, and outward radiating -- effects will make this the principal distingMartian temple-sprea- d uishing feature of the Great Basin of Nevada and Utah. The costs of MX deployment will be incalculably enormous. The results will be, at worst, the establishment of frontline areas for the opening salvos of Armageddon. The outcome, at best, may be an abandoned scattering of wasted technology, monuments to a mix of misguided patriotism and unenlight. tened Pentagon designers, supported by the relatively few Americans who would reap monetary and other private gains from such an enterprise, have come up with a colossal complex of concrete and steel, bristling with nuclear missiles. Grotesque as the MX intrusion would be in a land ol so much natural splendor as the Great West, ttie grim reality lies In the escalation of the march toward a planetary holocaust. JAMES P. WELUS . . . mini-camer- The Trilateralist Commission is a conspiracy. What other name can be applied to a group which is bent on the destruction of nations? Trilateralism, like communism and facism, is a great greedy grab for power. I see where EPA has renewed its semiannual Get Kennecott" declaration. About the only company that seems to have made a good-faiteffort to comply with all of EPAs nits and grits keeps getting the old EPA harpoon, now well worn and transparent from so many abrasive thrusts. EPAs crusaders are so intent on nailing Kennecott they hypothesize readings they cant nail down with facts. Meanwhile, EPA busybodies notoriously failed to control pollution in Niagara Falls Love Canal and a large number of other chemical dump sites across the country. They seem to look the other way if a company threatens to close down rather than clean up. Kennecott has sunk $300 million into pollution controls at the Garfield smelter and 1 for one appreciate their accomplishments. If further improvement is necessary, Im confident Kennecott will know and do it light-year- s before EPA comes up with proper and workable technology. Having attended several EPA hearings Ive concluded their main Theater of the purpose is entertainment absurd. Real scientists, the kind who have to make it in the marketplace, show up EPAs pseudoscientists as unmistakable demagogues. Tliere are some seal polluters, including oil refineries, diesel trucks, U S. Steel, and all of our cars. Come on, EPA, Mop whipping the willing horse and move on to where youre really needed. Why not drop in on Mount St. Helens? denied his rights to a fair trial because of television coverage. The mujority opinion emphasized that there was "considerable disruption of the proceed-- , ings" by banks of hot theatrical lights, noisy cameras and electrical cables and wires' snaked across the courtroom floor. OK Television Coverage Justice Tom Clark, who wrote the decision, predicted that the day might come when the court would approve of television coverage, "when the advances in these arts permit Without their present hazards to reporting a fair trial, we will have another case. For more than a decade there was very little motion in the field. Then, in 1970, .Alabama and Florida started experimental plans. Both plans required the approval of the defendant. After one year of the Florida plan, not a single defendant had agreed to have his trial televised, and Florida then adopted a second experimental plan permitting televising over the objections of the defendant. Under this second Florida plan, two Miami Beach police officers were tried on charges of burglarizing a local restaurant. Television was permitted at the trial with one small camera, which everyone agreed was silent and not physically disruptive. But the two police officers claimed that the mere presence of the cameras was psychological burden on them, their defense lawyer and their witnesses, depriving them of their constitutional rights to adequately defend themselves. Affirm Convictions courts affirmed their convicFlorida The tions, and they appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for review. In supporting television in the courts, most news organizations are expected to argue that with the technological advances in television using natural light and parabolic there is nothing inherently microphones disruptive anymore. Therefore, they will argue, if a state wishes to further inform the public about courts through television, the state plan does not have any constitutional defect. A small number of media organizations may go even further and argue that there should be a constitutional presumption in favor of television using their cameras to cover trials just the way the print media uses pencils and pads. These groups would argue that If Florida did not permit television in the courtrooms that at some point they might be required to. But most press organization lawyers feel that this case is more psychological than legal. The real question is whether the 6ft- - and justices of the Supreme Court will continue to treat television as some type of electronic novelty or whether they will finally treat it as an equal journalistic partner with newspaper and other print media. (Copyright) The Way It Was Flora Lewis Arms Race Presents Real Peril Winner With No Long-Range New York Times Service Ronald Reagan and his supporters PARIS are calling for a huge increase in the defense budget that would mean a new, virtually unlimited heat in the arms race. Their idea is not to achieve the protection that decisive Western military superiority might bring. There is no reason to suppose such superiority is achievable in what remains of the 20th century. And even when it existed, it did not remove the fear of war. The thesis is that although Moscow means it when it says the Soviet Union would respond with at least as big a buildup, the communist countries do not have the economic and social stamina to hold their own in such a competition. There are already severe strains in their production systems, and the gamble is that they would break down under the pressure of the race. Likely to Fail the moral degradation and from Quite apart increased risk of war that this theory entails, it is likely to fail. The simplistic reasoning doesnt take into account the nature of Western and Soviet societies, what gives resilience to one and permits the other to succeed only in creating military might. So long as the United States and its allies remain democratic, their peoples can be expected to resist making sacrifices as great and for as long as such a race would require. And if, as some whisper, a degree of freedom has to be sacrificed as well, whatever makes the theorys proponents imagine that more authoritarianism in the West would make it produce better? On the contrary, more controls and the diversion of wealth to the military would bring the same distortions, demoralization, dearth of imagination and initiative that plague Moscow. Vast Power A military-industricomplex has grown to vast power in the Soviet Union over the last generation, to the point where even such a dedicated Communist as Rumania's President Nicolae Ceausescu has complained ol it to Western visitors. Russia's armed forces have been commandeering atxiut 15 percent of the national product for some 15 to 20 years, with little civilian oversight or control. As a result, they have a lot of experience in coercion and secrecy. It's an extremely inefficient way to produce, but its what they do (test and. despite the grumbles, their people are used to it. The deep patriotism of Russians and their response to appeals couched in terms of threats to tne motherland must not tie underestimated. Stalin used il dramatically during World War II. Brezhnev is beginninu to use it now. to apparent effect In Leningrad, which underwent a gnsl siege and has painfully recovered, an woman whose job is sweeping up a cemetery spoke sharply when she met an American recently. "Why doesn't America let us be?" she demanded. We have no life because of you, no life at all. Impatient Reaction Anthony Austin of The New York Times, who tried to tell her that she should blame the Soviet regime and its invasion of Afghanistan, reported that her impatient reaction seemed typical of average Russians. Contrast some basic European reactions, strongly in favor of restoring a military balance but just as insistent on arms control to reduce the level. One Western prime minister confided recently that he feared an arms race would result in Moscows achieving a new "global Yalta," a division of the world into influence spheres with West Europe thrown to the East. No Alternatives Swedish Foreign Minister Ola Ullsten says that without continued efforts for disarmament, we have nowhere to go. There is no alternative." He speaks for a broad body of European opinion. A few, in the tradition of the late Bertrand Russell who urged unilateral nuclear disarmament on the grounds of "better Red than dead, have a specter of a nuclear arms race to its logical conclusion. Victor Weisskopf, for example, an atomic physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has come to an appalling conviction: "If the Western nations ... would democratically decide to renounce all armaments and permit the USSR to enter their territories: if. further, they would stick to this decision after having seen the Immediate consequences, they might well have to endure several decades of Soviet dictatorship, but in the long run they would turn out to be both morally and technically the superior party. The result would be immensely better than the probable (atomic) war." I'tler Despair This is the counsel of utter despair, quite different from the view of persecuted Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov. He says firm Western resistance, unity, strategic parity are essential to block Soviet expansion. But he also says, "Most urgent of all are steps to avert nuclear war ... the greatest peril confronting the modem world." Which 1$ to say, negotia900-da- y old Here are the area briefs of The Salt Lake Tribune from 100, 5ft and 25 years ago: June 28, 1880 The most wonderful thing of modern times is the progress man has made in subduing to his will the forces of nature. With what ingenuity has he hunted and brought out these forces. How like a god he seems when he has harnessed them for his purposes. The progress made in the knowledge of electricity and in the ability to control it, is almost incredible. Not only this, but for several years past we have been given to understand that we were on the eve of a great discovery. I could never understand the nature of it, until I. myself, happened to make the great discovery utilizing the strength of Limburger cheese to power a great new motor. June 28, 1930 Authorities of the library board have decided to abandon the proposed library site owned by the LDS Church and accept an offer made by Mrs. Kate D. Preston to purchase the corner of First North and First East streets. It was announced here, (Logan) Thursday by W. W. Hall, chairman of the Cache county library board, and Weston Vernon, chairman of the city board. Within four weeks the old Preston home will be razed and bids will be let for the construction. June 28. 1955 The old concept of a "physiological anemia of preganancy" was disputed Monday by one of the speakers at the opening of a week-lonpostgraduate course in general practice at Salt Iake General Hospital. It was explained that most women enter pregnancy with an iron deficiency due to blood loss during menstruation. Nourishment of the fetus causes a further drain on iron reserves and additional amounts are lost through bleeding at the time of delivery. g Senator Soaper Kids are so skilled these days that they think the Grand Canyon is just another pothole A cheapskate is a the rink (or not lung It now person who tries to get into costs more for used to for a suit. u pair of overalls than tion. Imagining that the choice is only between and capitulation could lose the balance tor the West. Even the U.S. joint chiefs themselves are more eager for money to improve existing American forces than for colossal new weapons programs Judicious thought, a search for elfective restraint, are letter guarantees for survival in freedom than in military machismo. (Copy ngliU nil-o- "We sure seared off (hut eagle" it |
