Whether trial courts may close a courtroom pursuant to a closure statute without undertaking the Waller analysis

QUESTION PRESENTED In Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court for Norfolk County, 457 U.S. 596 (1982), this Court held that a state’s mandatory courtroom closure rule, triggered by the testimony of a minor victim of certain sex offenses, violated the First Amendment. Two years later, in Waller v. Georgia, 467 U.S. 39 (1984), this Court held that before closing a courtroom to members of the public, the Sixth Amendment requires a court to (1) consider whether an overriding interest is likely to be prejudiced absent closure; (2) ensure that the closure be no broader than necessary to protect that interest; (3) consider reasonable alternatives to the requested closure; and (4) make specific factual findings relating to these factors. The question presented is: Whether, as the court below and two other states hold, trial courts may close a courtroom pursuant to a closure statute without undertaking the Waller analysis; or, as nine states and the federal courts of appeals hold, the Sixth Amendment and Waller require an assessment of the specific facts of the case and proposed closure, notwithstanding the existence of a statute governing closure. @)