Home > Great American Court Cases > Houchins v. KQED

Legal Citation: 438 U.S. 1 (1978)

Petitioner
Thomas L. Houchins, Sheriff of the County of Alameda, California

Respondent
KQED, Inc.

Petitioner's Claim
That the news media has no special constitutional right of access to a county jail beyond that of the public to interview, photograph, and sound record inmates and the facility for publication and broadcasting purposes.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner
Kelvin H. Booty, Jr.

Chief Lawyer for Respondent
William Bennett Turner

Justices for the Court
Warren E. Burger (writing for the Court), William H. Rehnquist, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting
William J. Brennan, Jr., Lewis F. Powell, Jr., John Paul Stevens (Harry A. Blackmun and Thurgood Marshall did not participate)

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
26...