Murder, Courts, and the Press

When murder is the crime, the clash in the courts is likely to be between two constitutionally enshrined rightsfreedom of speech vs. the right to a fair trial.

Kane shows what actually happened in five famous court cases when First Amendment rights (freedom of speech) conflicted with Sixth Amendment rights (fair trial). He reports the circumstances of each crime, the court proceedings, and the conduct of the press in the Sam Sheppard murder case, the Tate-LaBianca murders, the Kellie family murders, the Wayne Clapp disappearance, and the Lillian Keller case. He combines a description of the realities of the cases with an analysis of the opinions of the United States Supreme Court designed to explain the legal principles imbedded in those positions.

His narrative and analysis approach provides interesting stories that illuminate legal principles and show the roles of actual human beings underlying the abstractions of court opinions."