Murder In Moscow: The Idaho Supreme Court Upholds The Gag Order Ruling

In April 2023, the Idaho Supreme Court rejected an effort by a coalition of 30 news organizations to immediately lift the sweeping gag order in the Bryan Kohberger case. The justices did not rule that the order itself was constitutional or that the media’s First Amendment arguments lacked merit. Instead, they said the press coalition had gone to the wrong court first and needed to challenge Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall’s order in the lower court before asking the state Supreme Court to intervene. Marshall’s January order had barred attorneys, prosecutors, law-enforcement personnel and others connected to the case from speaking publicly about it, a restriction imposed as publicity around the murders exploded nationwide. The media coalition argued that the order was overly broad and prevented journalists from gathering information that could help the public understand the case and correct rampant misinformation, while Kohberger’s defense argued that strict limits were necessary to protect his right to a fair trial.

The ruling left the gag order in place but also gave the news organizations a roadmap for continuing the fight. Justice Gregory Moeller acknowledged the essential role of the press in scrutinizing the justice system while also noting the increasingly difficult balance between First Amendment rights and a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury in the age of social media. The Goncalves family, through attorney Shanon Gray, had also challenged the gag order, arguing that it placed an unfair burden on victims’ families and interfered with their ability to speak publicly. The Idaho Supreme Court’s decision therefore did not settle the larger battle over secrecy in the case; it simply forced the media and victims’ representatives to return to the magistrate court and challenge the restrictions through the normal procedural route.


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