EDITORIAL... Federal courts operating in Dark Ages Judging from what we’ve read and heard, testimony in the James “Whitey” Bulger trial at the Moakley federal courthouse in Boston is pretty riveting stuff. Dramatic and chilling, from what we’ve read and been told. And that’s the problem. Unlike state district and superior court proceedings, cameras and video recordings are prohibited in the U.S. District Courts. Instead, newspaper and television images of the proceedings hearken back to the 1800’s when all you could see was an artist’s rendering of the witnesses and defendant. At least now, the drawings are in color. Yet, for all of its drama and pathos, the continued prohibition of cameras in federal courts leaves the public wanting for more. Electronic media coverage of criminal proceedings in federal courts dates back to an arcane 1946 rule prohibiting cameras and radio broadcasts of federal court proceedings. There have been feeble attempts along the way to bring the federal courts into the 21st century when it comes to the public recording of the events. None have produced any positive results. The prohibition was reaffirmed in 1972. In 1988 a committee on cameras in the courtroom recommended a pilot program permitting electronic media coverage of civil proceedings in six district and two appellate courts. At its September 1994 session, the Judicial Conference considered a report and recommendation to authorize photographing, recording, and broadcasting of civil proceedings in federal trial and appellate courts, by it did not approve a proposed amendment to the 1946 guidelines that would have allowed the cameras and broadcasts. There has been more back and forth on the issue. At a September 2010 session, the Judicial Conference authorized another pilot program, this for three years, that would allow video recordings in civil cases only. The presiding judge, and parties must consent to the recording of each proceeding in a case. The District Court of Massachusetts is one of the participants. Of course, this would have no bearing on a criminal case, like the Bulger trial. There’s no reason that the U.S. District Court system continues to, in effect, operate in the Dark Ages. They need to bring themselves into the electronic era in which all of the lower courts operate.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:35:52 +0000
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