“ Justice Swift, in giving judgment, said that proceedings for contempt of Court were not taken to vindicate the dignity of the Court or the person of a Judge, but to prevent undue interference with the administration of justice. It was essential that when a criminal charge was made against any one there should be no tampering of any sort or kind with those who would ultimately have to decide the matter. ”

“ The reason why the publication of articles like those with which we have to deal is treated as a contempt of Court is because their tendency and sometimes their object is to deprive the Court of the power of doing that which is the end for which it exists-namely, to administer justice duly, impartially, and with reference solely to the facts judicially brought before it. ”

“ Once a newspaper departed from a fair and accurate report of what was actually stated in open court it not only took a great risk itself, but it also imperilled the unfortunate man, guilty or innocent, who was charged. ”

“ What does a newspaper do when it prints a photograph in these circumstances? It invites the whole country to scrutinize the features of the accused who has been arrested. That it does that act not in the course of preparation of the case for the prosecution but merely in the course of the conduct of a money-making business does not excuse in a newspaper that which would be reprehensible in a police officer. ”

“ I think it is a fallacy to assume that the only object of imposing punishment for contempt of court in a criminal case is to prevent a juryman, who may be trying the person affected, from reading matter of which he ought to know nothing. ”

“ Well, now, it hardly seems necessary for the Court to say to men who are experienced in the trial of jury cases, that every time Defense Counsel asked a prospective juror whether he had heard a radio broadcast to the effect that his client has confessed to this crime or that he has been guilty of similar crimes, he would by that act be driving just one more nail into James' coffin. ”

“ True, attempts are made to get jurors who have not been touched with any previous influence in the case, but the safeguards that are provided for the realization of that ideal are all too limited.
'The Court knows no graver responsibility that devolves upon Counsel for the Defense in a serious criminal case than the responsibility of advising his client whether to elect a jury trial or a court trial. Counsel must be able to sense public opinion, and he must evaluate the possible effect upon the jurors' minds of those things which they know or think they know. ”

“ He is a human being, and while I do not suggest that it is likely that any judge, as the result of information which had been improperly conveyed to him, would give a decision which otherwise he would not have given, it is embarrassing to a judge that he should be informed of matters which he would much rather not hear and which make it much more difficult for him to do his duty. ”

“ They are twelve men, or in most jurisdictions now, as in Maryland, men and women who are picked from all walks of life and who have the responsibility of hearing cases and determining, in this State at least, not only the facts but the law in the case. It may be unfortunate, perhaps, but certainly the fact is that the jury's verdict is final in most cases. There is the limited protection of the accused to apply for a new trial, but the Court of Appeals can not determine-review and determine-the propriety of the verdict reached by the jury either on the law or on the facts. ”

“ Whether defamatory matter amounts to contempt in any particular case is a question in each case of fact, of degree and of circumstances. Obviously far less would amount to contempt of court if the matter were published before the hearing by a jury than would be required before a hearing by a judge or by the Court of Criminal Appeal. ”

“ On such occasions all sorts of allegations are frequently made against a man's character, sometimes in the nature of hearsay and sometimes not supported by evidence at all. What is the ground for the disapproval of the Court of Criminal Appeal regarding such statements? It can only be that the judge who, after hearing the statements, has to pronounce sentence, may, quite unconsciously, have his judgment influenced by matters which he has no right to consider. * * * Not all defamatory matter can amount to contempt of court. ”

“ Rule nisi for contempt for publishing a poster, which in fact related to another case, containing the words 'Another Blazing Car Murder' at a time when an accused stood committed for trial on the charge of murder of a man in a motor car found burned up. As is the practice in all these cases the respondents tendered full apology to the court. In delivering the judgment, Lord Hewart, C.J., stated that the poster words might suggest that the accused had committed murder which was the issue the jury had to decide. The rule was made absolute, but only costs were assessed. ”

“ Rule for contempt of court for publication in a newspaper of statements that a woman, then under arrest on a charge of abandoning a child but not committed for trial for attempted murder of the child until after the publication, had practiced wholesale baby farming and had been convicted of fraud. ”

“ There is also the judge to be considered, and, while I am not saying for a moment that any person sitting in a judicial capacity, who may, be it remembered, be a chairman of quarter sessions, who may or may not be a lawyer, or a recorder, or it may be, of course, one of the judges of the King's Bench Division, would be affected by anything he might read, I think it is a fallacy to say or to assume that the presiding judge is a person who cannot be affected by outside information. ”

“ The time that would be required is prohibitive, apart from the fact as already indicated that different reasons not infrequently move different members of the Court in concluding that a particular case at a particular time makes review undersirable. It becomes relevant here to note that failure to record a dissent from a denial of a petition for writ of certiorari in nowise implies that only the member of the Court who notes his dissent thought the petition should be granted. ”

“ Justice Holmes represents to suggest that it is also true of the thought behind a criminal charge '* * * that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market'. ”

“ It was impossible to say that men occupying responsible positions should be excused because they themselves were not personally aware of what was being done. The practice was really becoming prevalent, and it was quite obvious that there were those who thought that publications of this kind were not only legitimate, but even commendable. ”

“ They are, however, doing the best that they can and, as I have indicated, theirs is a grave responsibility, because it is irrevocable. When a jury determines a case that terminates the case and if Counsel may have made an unfortunate choice then his client suffers the consequences.
'Now, the Court can not help but feel that the broadcast referred to in these cases must have had an indelible effect upon the public mind and that that effect was one that was bound to follow the members of the panel into the jury room. ”

“ Justice Birkett yesterday, on the two motions for writs of attachment for contempt of Court made on behalf of John George Haigh (who is at present in custody on a charge of murdering Mrs. Olive Durand-Deacon) against Mr. Silvester Bolam, the editor of the Daily Mirror, and Daily Mirror Newspapers, Limited, the Court ordered that Mr. Bolam should be committed to prison for three calendar months, and that the company should pay a fine of 10,000 and the costs of the proceedings. ”

“ Because of their apologies only costs were assessed against some respondents, but another was fined 50 and costs 'to mark the court's disapproval of their conduct' (p. 1515) .
11. Rex v. Editor, Printers and Publishers of the Evening News, The Times (London) , July 30, 1936, p. 4, col. 3 (K.B.) (Swift, Humphreys and Goddard, JJ.) . Rule nisi for contempt of court for publishing articles describing as a 'crank' and a person regarded by the police as a 'harmless lunatic nursing a grievance' someone under arrest for unlawful possession of firearms. ”