Posted: June 19th, 2017

A local 14-year-old girl was recently found guilty of masterminding a dog-knapping ring, which had shaken the community for months. Though the legal proceedings were closed to the public because she was charged as a minor, a trusted source has confirmed that the judge today sentenced the girl to four years in a juvenile detention center. You are the editor of the community newspaper who must decide how to cover the story. Which of the following options would the First Amendment protect?

A local 14-year-old girl was recently found guilty of masterminding
a dog-knapping ring, which had shaken the community for months.
Though the legal proceedings were closed to the public because she was
charged as a minor, a trusted source has confirmed that the judge
today sentenced the girl to four years in a juvenile detention center.
You are the editor of the community newspaper who must decide how
to cover the story. Which of the following options would the First
Amendment protect?
a. Because the girl is a minor and the proceedings were closed to the
public, you choose not to publish the story.
b. You publish the story with accurate details of the crime and the girl’s
sentence but, because she is a minor, you withhold her name.
c. You run the story with accurate details of the crime, her sentence,
her name and a photo of her entering court with her parents.
d. All of the above options are legal.