ERIC Number: ED202010
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1980-Apr
Pages: 15
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: An Update on Cameras in Louisiana Courtrooms.
Mundt, Whitney R.
Canon 35 of the American Bar Association's Canons of Judicial Ethics is an advisory ban on cameras and news equipment in courtrooms. In 1978, the Louisiana Supreme Court authorized a one-year pilot project on electronic coverage of court proceedings. The authorization set forth certain technical requirements concerning the nature and placement of equipment and personnel and the use made of media material. Written permission for such coverage was to be obtained from both parties involved in the case and their counsel. In the two cases for which permission was obtained, polled jurors said they felt neither distraction nor disruption because of camera equipment. Permission was granted to extend the experiment for another year, but a bill was introduced into the state legislature prohibiting the use of cameras on the grounds that they turned the courtroom into a showroom. Despite such setbacks for those believing the public's right to know is best served by electronic news coverage in courtrooms, such coverage is almost certainly in Louisiana's future, as technological advances have discredited many objections and changing attitudes are slowly overcoming the objections that remain. (HTH)
Descriptors: Court Doctrine, Court Litigation, Ethics, Freedom of Speech, News Media, News Reporting, Photography, Privacy
Publication Type: Information Analyses; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Louisiana
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A