![]() Instead, as they gradually ramp up proceedings, the city’s courts are allowing a limited number of people to enter courtrooms where they can listen to audio of remote hearings or get a one-time video link to watch on their personal computers or smartphones, said Regan Williams, senior clerk in Manhattan’s criminal court. Some courts, like those in New York City, have declined to post live video feeds on their websites. The court posted an audio recording online about an hour later. But the livestream failed during a June 15 hearing on a challenge to the state’s absentee voting requirements to be used during the coronavirus outbreak. The Missouri Supreme Court has offered an audio livestream of its remote proceedings while excluding the public, the attorneys and most of the judges from its courtroom. Remote court proceedings also have been used in civil cases in some states, with mixed results. But volunteer court observers experienced some technical difficulties during a coordinated initiative to monitor proceedings last month, said Sharlyn Grace, executive director of the Chicago Community Bond Fund, a nonprofit group involved in the monitoring project. The remote hearings generally seem to be working. The video feed includes a warning that people recording or photographing the live-streamed sessions could be penalized for contempt of court. ![]() In Chicago’s home of Cook County, Illinois, the circuit court includes a link on its website to a YouTube channel allowing anyone to watch its proceedings. “The courtrooms are supposed to be fully public, anybody who’s interested is supposed to be able to watch, and they have not been doing that,” said Sergio De La Pava, legal director of New York County Defender Services, a nonprofit public defenders office in Manhattan. ![]() In other cases, the defendant’s family members, friends or other interested residents weren’t aware how to gain access to special video feeds. In some cases, the public had no means of participating. Constitution guarantees the right to a public trial, but some courts have held arraignments and other pretrial hearings without the public watching or listening. are facing as they try to balance public health protections with public access to their proceedings amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The situation in Kern County highlights the challenges courts across the U.S. A day later, the Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield posted a notice on its website explaining how the public could request special permission from judicial officers to attend court proceedings.īut problems with public access have persisted, according to a federal lawsuit filed Friday on behalf of Brown and several others who have been unable to watch court sessions. She was turned away, told the courthouse was closed to the public because of coronavirus precautions. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.Īfter her son was arrested for allegedly throwing rocks at police during a protest over racial injustice, Tanisha Brown headed to the courthouse in her California hometown to watch her son’s arraignment. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.
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