European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 2, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes Thomas Kent february 1981 soviet ties Are off to a poor Start soviet relations with the Reagan administration have gotten off to a poor despite claims by both sides that they want to live peacefully with each Moscow and the Reagan administration arc already trading charges Over the Iran hostage arms building and other is and neither has made the kind of Goodwill gestures that could signal a new Era in soviet american some people Here in Moscow still think Reagan will be More More flexible than Carter says a soviet specialist on foreign but so it is hard to see much to prove Reagan was Blunt about his distrust of the they have openly and publicly declared that the Only morality they recognize is what will further their mean ing they Reserve unto themselves the right to commit any to to Reagan told a news although he repeated his willingness to negotiate an arms con tool Reagan stressed that any m pm Tob it to be a returnee and what is if u to k ate to take a walk and wat was the Ursa thing to and to your and von do w i know Iran and w k to Kim t Kins Home James Reston courtroom to risks and rewards the supreme court has ruled unanimously that the states Are not prohibited by the Constitution from allowing Tele vision cameras in the but it did not guarantee or advocate the televising of court an absolute constitutional ban on broadcast coverage of chief Justice Warren burgers majority opinion cannot be justified simply because there is danger in some prejudicial broadcast accounts of pretrial and trial events May impair the ability of jurors to decide the Issue of guilt or innocence uninfluenced by extraneous the risk of juror prejudice in some he does not justify an absolute ban on news coverage by the printed Media so also the risk of such prejudice docs not warrant an absolute ban on All broadcast the argument against a constitutional ban on reporting court cases by electronic As Well As print news organizations is but it would be a mistake to deduce from this that the risk of juror prejudice from television cameras in the courtroom is no greater than that from a few Pencil scribblers in the Back the chief Justice didst imply that the risk was the same merely that the constitutional principle was the in he came out clearly for allowing the states to admit cameras to their but has made Clear elsewhere that they would not have Access to the supreme court of the United states if he could prevent the argument for giving cameras Access to the courts is that they would expand the Public knowledge of due process of it is pointed out that modern television technology can now operate with smaller Cam eras without blinding and that mod Ern courtrooms can provide recessed television which Are scarcely visible in the court the argument against cameras is although physical obstructions May be Over the psychological effects of their presence it is for exam that they would be a distracting influence and make it More difficult to get the truth out of whose Powers of Obser recollection and communication Are already limited in the emotional stresses of a they would encourage jurors to think about themselves on camera rather than concentrating on the and tempt columns and comments lawyers to play to the cameras rather than to the while they would extend the process of Justice to a much wider they in if not cases give that audience a distorted picture of the proceed even in the most sensational the proceedings Are interminably Long and even and it is hard to imagine product who measure television time in tolerating these tedious which usually decide guilt or rather than concentrating on the few dramatic moments that Seldom Settle the general Public would not get an accurate picture of the due process of Law but merely a glimpse of the its hard to argue that the cameras would increase the rights of the defendant by in creasing the size of the the peo ple Are already represented in the As presently to make sure that the defendant gets a fair trial in an atmosphere conducive to a careful consideration of the and one in the past at was that the courts should decide cases on their without excessive con Cern for How their decision would be received by the against these the Florida supreme after experimenting with Tele Vised court received and re viewed Many reports and various and concluded on there was More to be gained than lost by permitting cameras to record the proceed burgers opinion gave the states the right to admit notwithstanding the objection of the but he noted in the Case of Chandler which was under the defendants had the right to present specific evidence that they had been injured by the televised proceed but did not present to support their in his final the chief Justice conceded that dangers Lurk in As in most unless we were to conclude that television coverage under All conditions is prohibited by the the states must be free to the practical result of this the influence of television Over politicians being what it is Likely to expand the Experiment beyond the 27 states that now permit some form of television in court proceed but the supreme court dealt Only with the constitutional Issue and left the Many dangers that Lurk in this to be decided c new York times agreement would be linked to soviet behaviour in other chances for any High level meeting Between the two nations appear despite concern about Afghanistan and soviet observers continue to see the strategic arms limitation treaty As the most important single Issue Between Moscow and the new administration insists the pact should be modified before and says it could take six months before Washington decides which modifications it soviet sources say Moscow is now Proba Bly resigned to eventual talks on Modifica so Long As the changes do not jeopardize Moscow View of its own Security these make Clear that any ratification delay is agonizing for mos cow and that the Kremlin could make new demands of its own at treaty modification the treaty impasse is complicated by re cent developments involving some so Viets they claim that since the Reagan administration has threatened to review the agreement freeing hostages from it might also ignore provisions of the Salt ii even after eventual ratification by the it is difficult to assess How genuine these soviet fears but they Are Likely to be expressed in some form if treaty ratification continues to be the Iran crisis casts other shadows Over the soviet Union sharply criticized car ters handling of the hostage and failed to let up when Reagan took one Day after Reagan took the soviet news Agency claimed that the freed hostages would be brainwashed by bringing an immediate Public protest from the state the soviet press has been complaining bitterly about Reagan administration hints that despite the hostages re Strong naval forces May remain in the persian Gulf and Indian Ocean re Reagan also favors Large scale improvements in conventional some soviet analysts still Hope that the Reagan administration will eventually come to terms with and that the detente of the Nixon Era can be St soviets seem to find Little hard evidence that reagans conservative values will per Mit much of an frankly we Are struck by the conservatism of american political Fyodor a senior soviet political said in a soviet newspaper interview on prospects for detente in the while they Are experimenters and in ventors in the Field of science and tech nolo americans show surprising inflexibility and dogmatism in the sphere of ideology and he to dream in present conditions of a re birth of pan americanism and american leadership in the world is to constantly bang their Heads against the soviet political commentator Spartak Beglov said that some Are Apt to believe that Alexander Haig indulged in Tough talk on the eve of the inauguration in order to win senators while reserving the right to realism and flexibility in his practical but what is said cannot be Beglov concluding that reagans team favors nuclear intimidation of the soviet Union and other Tough soviet foreign minister Andrei Myko reasserted last week that the soviet Union is prepared to respond positively to any american initiatives to strengthen de Tente and he warned again that Moscow will move effectively to guard its own Security and will keep its defense potential on a proper c associated press