NBC Subsidary (KNBC-TV), Inc. v. Superior Court

In NBC Subsidiary (KNBC-TV), Inc. v. Superior Court (1999) 20 Cal. 4th 1178, the court addressed the related problem of the validity of restrictions placed on the media's report of civil proceedings, and stated at pages 1217 to 1218 that before a prior restraint can be upheld: "a trial court must hold a hearing and expressly find that: (i) there exists an overriding interest supporting closure and/or sealing; (ii) there is a substantial probability that the interest will be prejudiced absent closure and/or sealing; (iii) the proposed closure and/or sealing is narrowly tailored to serve the overriding interest; (iv) there is no less restrictive means of achieving the overriding interest." In NBC Subsidary (KNBC-TV), Inc. v. Superior Court (1999) the Supreme Court did not hold that press access to civil proceedings can never be judicially restrained. Instead, the court, interpreting Code of Civil Procedure section 124 in a constitutional manner, decided that under certain limited conditions press access to civil trials may be curtailed if an overriding interest supports closure or sealing, a substantial probability exists the interest will be prejudiced without closure or sealing, the closure or sealing is narrowly tailored to serve only the overriding interest, and there is no less restrictive means of protecting the overriding interest. ( NBC Subsidiary, supra, 20 Cal. 4th at pp. 1217-1218.) The court expressed no intention to decide any question of media access in juvenile matters. ( Id. at p. 1212, fn. 30.)