What is a Gag Order?

Although it can be issued by a government in the form of a law or executive decree, and in other instances by a private entity like a corporation as a part of corporate policy, a "gag order", as it is commonly known today is an order issued by a court of law usually before the start of or during a trial or other high profile legal proceeding.

As most commonly used, a judge will impose a gag order in a case to prohibit the opposing parties involved from disclosing information about the case to the public, especially any members of the news media. A gag order may prohibit the disclosure of only specific details in a case or it may prohibit the parties from speaking at all about a case. A party to a case that violates a Court's gag order can be held in contempt of court subjecting the violator to appropriate monetary fines or jail in certain instances.

A judge will issue a gag order in cases where the judge believes that the interests of one or both sides will be unfairly prejudiced if the public becomes aware of certain information. The intent of a judge's gag order may also be to prevent the the parties, especially their lawyers, from trying to create favorable public sentiment in the newspapers or on television for their side. This is a common attorney tactic in high profile cases particularly in instances where a jury for the case has not yet been selected. An example of a judge using employing a gag order for this reason is the 1996 civil case against O.J. Simpson for violating the civil rights of Ron Goldman and Nicole Simpson where the parties were prohibited from discussing, debating, or making statements about the case to members of the public.