Presley v. Georgia

Summary

In a per curiam summary disposition, the Supreme Court granted certiorari and reversed the Supreme Court of Georgia's affirmance of Eric Presley's cocaine trafficking conviction, holding that the Sixth Amendment right to a public trial extends to the voir dire of prospective jurors and that a trial court must consider reasonable alternatives to closure on its own initiative, even when no party proffers any. Because the trial court excluded the public, including Presley's uncle, from jury selection without considering alternatives—even though evidence showed space was available—the closure violated the Sixth Amendment. The Court expressly declined to rule on Presley's separate argument that the trial court failed to identify a sufficiently specific overriding interest justifying closure. Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Scalia, dissented, contending that neither question was settled enough to be resolved summarily without full briefing and argument.