(CN) — As California courts shut their doors to the public, First Amendment advocates and press groups are asking the state's chief justice to ensure that the media can still cover court hearings, which are ongoing, and review new court records, which continue to be filed.
The First Amendment Coalition sent Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye a letter Wednesday urging her and the Judicial Council, the administrative body for the courts, to advise California’s trial courts on methods for keeping the courts open for press coverage, even as courthouses shut their physical doors to the public.
“First, telephonic hearings must be conducted on conference lines that make some allowance for free public usage. And dial-in information must be readily available to the public in advance of the hearing,” the letter says.
“Second, criminal proceedings, such as arraignments and sentencing, that take place in courtrooms or via video must in some way be open to the public and press,” the letter continues.
“Third, court records must remain publicly available,” the letter says. “Access will come to a screeching halt if clerks’ offices are closed to the public.”
The letter goes on to argue that courts should move toward making all records available on their websites.
“If records cannot be made available online, courts should make arrangements for access in some other manner. Moreover, courts should waive any fees for online access at least until normal operations resume.”
Courts are excluded from Governor Gavin Newsom’s March 19 order shutting down all nonessential businesses, as are members of the press. But some restrictions have been necessary to slow the rate of infection in California.
In a letter to presiding judges statewide on March 20, Cantil-Sakauye empowered the courts to suspend all civil trials, prioritize criminal arraignments and restraining orders and eliminate bail to ease the burden of necessary court appearances.
The emergency relief order was limited, however, given the independence of each of the state’s 58 trial courts.
In the following weeks, California’s 58 superior courts trimmed operations drastically, with some closing courtrooms except for emergency hearings. Others vacated or indefinitely postponed all civil proceedings, still others switched to telephonic court hearings only. A number of courts, however, continued to hear criminal matters.
The varied approaches prompted local district attorneys throughout California to write to the chief justice, asking for uniformity. The chief, Cantil-Sakauye, quickly issued an order on March 23 suspending all jury trials statewide for 60 days, citing health regulations that recommend staying six feet away from people.
In the days before and after that order, many superior courts in California closed their doors to the public entirely. Some allowed press reporters to enter, in keeping with Gov. Newsom’s statewide order, while others barred the press along with the public.
Orange County Superior, for example, closed its doors to the public on March 17th and barred the press as well. At the same time, the court was live-streaming a few criminal hearings on its website.