Courthouse Curbs on the Press

The open court system is one of the prime supports of our democracy, but its pillars have taken a whack in recent years, and restrictions that would make it even wobblier may be in the offing.

Just last year California courts imposed new rules severely limiting the use of cameras in courtrooms. Also last year, the Legislature ordered the State Bar to draft a new section of the code of professional conduct. The result, Rule 5-120, applies to every lawyer in every case and essentially says, “Don’t speak publicly about your pending cases.”

Now, the Los Angeles Superior Court is considering new local rules for journalists. The proposed new court rules, as unwarranted as they are sweeping, are designed to muzzle the press. One would bar media coverage “in any part of the courthouse, including but not limited to entrances, exits, halls, stairs, escalators, elevators, and courtrooms.” That leaves only the pressroom at the central courthouse and specific areas “designated by the presiding judge or district supervising judge” for interviews and press conferences.

The rules would also require that reporters wear their press passes at all times in any local courthouse, even, presumably, when they themselves are on jury duty. Rules like these would have the effect of making pariahs out of reporters, branding them, in effect, with a scarlet press pass and making people nervous about talking with them.

Court officials say these proposed changes spring largely from the circus atmosphere that prevailed during O.J. Simpson’s criminal and civil trials. Yet in the two years since Simpson was found not guilty of murder, 1,855 defendants have stood trial downtown without the crowds and tumult that his trial generated. Where’s the problem?

The Superior Court’s media committee meets today to complete recommendations that must ultimately be approved by the court’s executive committee. Severe revisions are in order in the name of justice and freedom of the press.