Free speech confirmed

THE Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday stood up for free speech, rejecting a Henry County judge's remarkable claim that a criminal defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial was more important than the public's right to be informed about that trial.

It was the only possible decision.

In January, Common Pleas Court Judge Keith Muehlfeld issued a gag order preventing media from reporting the trial of Jayme Schwenkmeyer, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in the death of her 13-month-old daughter. The judge's rationale was that publicity from Ms. Schwenkmeyer's trial would taint the jury pool for her boyfriend, David E. Knepley, who was to be tried on the same charges in the same courtroom a week later.

The Blade fought the gag order, arguing that the judge was not allowed to choose between fair trial and First Amendment rights but had to accommodate both. The six justices (Chief Justice Thomas Moyer died April 2) agreed, calling Judge Muehlfeld's decision "patently unconstitutional."

The justices chided Judge Muehlfeld for ignoring alternatives to protect the integrity of the second trial, such as more in-depth questioning of jurors or sequestering the jury. And they dismissed the judge's attempt to use the expense of changing venues as a justification for prior restraint, which would have been a first in American judicial history in a case of this sort.

The justices also utterly rejected the reasoning that led Judge Muehlfeld to the absurd conclusion that some First Amendment rights are merely "derivative" and can be curtailed in favor of other rights.

This decision affirms the media's right to do their jobs without undue restrictions and, more important, the public's right to receive timely information about public events. But it shouldn't have gotten to this point.

Judge Muehlfeld's lack of understanding of the law and the Constitution is an embarrassment to Henry County residents, who must be asking themselves now how they can trust him to oversee this or any other trial.

The judge's argument, that Henry County could not afford both justice and constitutionally protected rights, won't fly. The real question is: Can Henry County afford Judge Muehlfeld?