The Constitution & the Judge

Does a judge have the right to order an editor to print something that he would like to see in the newspaper? Most U.S. editors would laugh at the thought, but for Editor Ralph McGill and Managing Editor William Fields of the Atlanta Constitution last week, it was no laughing matter. Floyd County's Judge Horace Elmo Nichols, who asserted that "Freedom of the press has no better or more sincere advocate than I," had sentenced both to 20 days in jail, plus a $200 fine apiece for contempt of court. Reason: Judge Nichols objected to a series of articles the Constitution ran on Georgia traffic law enforcement, and a growing toll of highway accidents.

The articles, charged Judge Nichols, made false accusations against the county courts. As his own proof of one mistake, he produced a photo of a $25 bail bond put up by an out-of-state traffic violator, in Floyd's county seat of Rome, even though the Constitution had said there was "no record" of the case ever having been disposed of.

Editor McGill was not convinced. The existence of a bond, he said, does not show any disposition of the case, and he refused to print the photo of the bond the judge offered as proof. Warned Judge Nichols: "I ... request that you publish a statement that your reporters saw the records in the case and that the records speak for themselves. Otherwise I have no alternative but to conclude that you are acting in contempt of court." Last week, as the editors still refused, Judge Nichols made good his threat. Editors McGill and Williams were released without bond while they appealed to the state supreme court, which will have to determine whether judges' powers give them the right to edit newspapers.

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