accordance with the law of the land, while the editor charges
the same jury in double-leaded paragraphs with what
"unwritten" law may best suit the owner of his conscience and
his pen. "Contempt of court" in its original significance is
something known today only to the reader of text books.**


*Cf. "Sensational Journalism and the Law," in "Moral
Overstrain," by G.W. Alger.


**By the New York Penal Code section 143, an editor is only
guilty of contempt of court (a misdemeanor) if he publishes "a
false or grossly inaccurate report" of its proceedings. The
most insidious, dangerous, offensive and prejudicial matter
spread broadcast by the daily press does not relate to actual
trials at all, but to matters entirely outside the record,
such as what certain witnesses of either side could establish
were they available, the "real" past and character of the
defendant, etc. The New York Courts, under the present
statute, are powerless to prevent this abuse. In
Massachusetts half a dozen of our principal editors and
"special writers" would have been locked up long ago to the
betterment of the community and to the increase of respect for
our courts of justice.

Each State has its own particular problem to face, but
ultimately the question is a national one. Lack of respect
for law is characteristic of the American people as a whole.
Until we acquire a vastly increased sense of civic duty we