Constitutional Law

S.D. to let news cameras in some courtrooms

By By The Associated Press

PIERRE, S.D. ? The South Dakota Supreme Court has approved rules for allowing news cameras and electronic recording equipment in the state's trial-level courts, Chief Justice David Gilbertson announced yesterday.

Television cameras, still cameras and audio-recording devices will be allowed in circuit court hearings and trials only when a judge and all parties to a case agree.

If all parties do not agree to have cameras in the courtroom, the judge can allow only audio coverage if the judge determines that would be appropriate.

"We believe this is a middle path between an outright ban and total access," Gilbertson said yesterday in the Supreme Court's hearing room in the state Capitol. "We need to balance a person's right to a fair trial with the public access to the legal proceedings."

The new rules will take effect July 1 to allow time for training judges, magistrates and other court staff, Gilbertson said.

Dave Bordewyk, general manager of the South Dakota Newspaper Association, said the new rules represented a good step in improving news organizations' coverage of circuit court proceedings. He said he also appreciated Gilbertson's comment that the rules might be changed to expand access if cameras do not cause problems in courtrooms.

"My initial reaction is I applaud the court and the chief justice for this change, this new provision, for allowing audio recording in courts," Bordewyk said.

Tim Rensch, a defense lawyer from Rapid City, says he also likes the new rules. Rensch, a member of a committee that studied the issue for the court system, had said earlier that allowing cameras in court could scare away witnesses.

Rensch says he is pleased that cameras will not be allowed in criminal proceedings without the agreement of defendants, but he believes audio recording will have little effect on trials or hearings.

"It looks to me like it permits a happy medium and gives us something to start with, to see the impact," he said of the new rules.

The 2008 Legislature repealed a state law that had banned radio and television broadcasting and the taking of photographs in circuit court, a move that left the decision up to the Supreme Court. The high court then appointed a panel of judges, lawyers and representatives of news organizations to study the issue.

Last year, the majority of the committee recommended a proposal from presiding circuit judges that would open circuit court proceedings only if a judge and all parties to a case agreed. The high court adopted that proposal, but then added the second option allowing audio recording at a judge's discretion in cases where cameras are not allowed in the courtroom.

The Supreme Court rejected a competing proposal submitted by news organizations, which had asked that circuit court proceedings be presumed open to cameras unless a judge decided that recording would interfere with the fairness of the proceedings.

Gilbertson noted that cameras have been allowed to cover Supreme Court appeals hearings since 2001 and all of those hearings have been provided live over the Internet since 2002. Electronic coverage of Supreme Court hearings has caused no problems, he said.

The chief justice said juvenile hearings and some other proceedings would remain closed by law. Judges also will retain authority to prohibit coverage to protect the rights of those in the courtroom, he said.

Expanded news coverage of circuit courts will help the public find out what happens in the court system, Gilbertson said.

"It's paid for by the public. It answers or settles public disputes both in criminal and civil cases," the chief justice said. "While we certainly want a fair trial, also the public has a right to know how we settle disputes."

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on February 28, 2011 (boomark / email).