Victory

New York newsmen last week won the right to cover court trials whenever the defendant wants them there, even if the judge does not. In reviewing the conviction of Oleomargarine Heir Minot F. ("Mickey") Jelke III for pimping for New York prostitutes, the State Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for Jelke. The grounds: Manhattan General Sessions Judge Francis L. Valente had no right to bar newsmen from the trial (TIME, May 31). Said the court's majority opinion: "Due regard for the defendant's right to a public trial demanded at the very least . . . that he be not deprived of the possible benefits of attendance by the press. Its widespread reporting of what goes on in the courts may well prove a potent force in restraining possible abuse of judicial power. This being so, justification for excluding the press in this case may not be found in the sensational and vulgar coverage which the proceedings may have been receiving in some newspapers, and which evidently disturbed the trial judge."

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