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Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Ind. Courts - Still more on: Cameras in trial courtrooms pilot hits snag [Updated]
Updating this report from March 11th, the Evansville Courier & Press has an editorial suggesting "Change the rules: Allow judges to decide." Some quotes:
When the Indiana Supreme Court announced in May that it had agreed to an 18-month test run of cameras in the courtroom, we applauded the decision for bringing a new transparency to the state's court system. * * *[Updated 3/15/07] The Indianapolis Star has an editorial today urging the Supreme Court "to continue to expand its experiment after it ends in December."But alas, it has not worked. A key restriction has placed undue limitations on cases that might be selected for cameras.
As a result, reports Emily Udell of The Associated Press in Indianapolis, eight months into the effort, cameras have been allowed in only five cases.
Compare those five cases with the approximately 350 requests for camera access to state courtrooms that have been rejected since the project began in July.
The key restriction allows attorneys for either side in any particular case to veto cameras. According to Udell's report, published Monday in the Courier & Press, it has been criminal defense attorneys in most cases who are declining to give their consent for cameras. They say their clients do not want to be photographed or filmed.
Nearly 20 states require only that the judge approve or reject cameras for any one case, and that is what Indiana should do.
At the minimum, the Indiana Supreme Court needs to alter the guidelines for the remainder of the pilot project, which runs to the end of this year, and let judges decide when to allow cameras in.
Otherwise, Indiana will not have a broad enough base of experience from which to judge whether to continue with cameras in the courtroom. That's especially true considering that only eight judges are participating statewide. They include Superior Court Judge Wayne Trockman of Vanderburgh County and Superior Court Judge Robert Alysworth of Warrick County.
The test project has taught us in a relatively few months that if the decision is left to defense attorneys, Hoosiers will rarely see pictures from inside a courtroom. We know that, so let's move on and find out what the reaction and the result will be if the decision is left to the trial judge.
Other concerns were addressed before the project was launched. Jurors, undercover police, informants, minors and victims of sex crimes would not be shown. Cameras could not be a noisy distraction, and with today's modern equipment, that is not a problem.
This week is Sunshine Week, a national observance of laws that allow citizens greater access to their government. In the spirit of Sunshine Week, we urge the Indiana Supreme Court to give judges the authority to decide when cameras will be permitted, thereby making this pilot project a true test of cameras in the courtroom.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 14, 2007 08:55 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts