State ex rel. Cincinnati Post v. Court of Common Pleas

In this action, the Post challenges the constitutionality of the trial judge’s post-verdict order that “[n]o one is to talk to the jurors about the case, and the jurors aren’t to talk to anybody about it.” We conclude that, while a more narrowly focused order might have been constitutional, this one violates the First Amendment.

I

Federal courts have struck down similar post-verdict orders on First Amendment grounds. Such a case was United States v. Sherman (C.A. 9, 1978), 581 F. 2d 1358, in which a trial court “forbade the jurors from discussing the case further with anyone * * * and * * *…