TRIAL WATCH : Fair, but Also Open

For the record, Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito faces a daunting task in trying to ensure that the O. J. Simpson murder trial is fair. So far he seems to be doing his job with a firm and even hand. However, a sweeping gag order he would impose on the case is ill-advised.

Ever since the Lindbergh baby kidnaping in the 1930s, notorious trials have received inordinate amounts of news coverage. (It is worth remembering that in many of those highly publicized cases the defendants were acquitted.) Clearly, coverage of the Simpson case exceeds anything that has come before--and some of the reporting, especially by the tabloid press, has been just plain wrong.

But Ito’s proposed solution is to ban anyone connected with the case from discussing documents, exhibits or evidence outside of court. He would also have attorneys file all legal motions in the case under seal, meaning that their contents could not be reported until they had actually been discussed in court.

Such a sweeping order is far too broad. It would limit the free speech of not just attorneys--who as officers of the court do have special responsibilities--but also far-flung individuals like lab technicians who may have conducted scientific research on some piece of evidence.

And the sealing of court documents flies in the face of the Constitution’s guarantee of not just a fair trial but an open trial. The challenge facing Ito is to balance those two requirements. We remain confident he can do so without relying on such an overly broad gag order.