Cameras in the courtroom – yes!
Comments (...)Illinois Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride announced Tuesday a giant leap toward greater courtroom transparency across the state.
We commend him for it.
Kilbride and his fellow state Supreme Court justices agreed to allow still cameras, video cameras and audio recording devices, operated by news photographers and reporters, in trial courtrooms on a limited, experimental basis.
The move will provide the public with a better understanding of how its court system operates.
Additionally, courtrooms that are more open to public scrutiny afford more protection to the rights of defendants.
Readers of this page are familiar with the Sauk Valley Media Editorial Board’s advocacy for cameras in the courtroom.
On Sept. 18, 2010, in an SVM editorial titled “New chief justice should allow cameras in court,” we urged Kilbride to allow cameras and microphones in court to demonstrate his commitment toward bringing more transparency to the judicial process.
Our timing was intentional. Kilbride, a Rock Island jurist whose district includes Whiteside and Bureau counties, had served 10 years and was on the ballot seeking retention for another decade. A political campaign, of course, is an opportune time to find out a candidate’s views on important topics.
We were pleasantly surprised when Kilbride contacted our editorial board and requested an interview. That took place by telephone on Oct. 7, 2010.
Kilbride told us, “I’ve always said, and still say, I am open to the idea” of cameras in the courtroom. He said his lawyer and judicial friends on the Iowa side of the Quad Cities had long told him the system there works well.
Kilbride went on to be sworn in for a 3-year term as chief justice on Oct. 26, won retention on Nov. 2, and has served ably.
Meanwhile, our editorial board continued to promote the cause of cameras in the courtroom.
Nov. 16, 2010: “Now that he has been retained, we urge Kilbride to follow up [on allowing cameras in the courtroom]. Encourage fellow justices to lend their support, find a willing judicial circuit to host a pilot program, and open Illinois courtrooms to 21st-century news-gathering tools.”
July 23, 2011: “News photographers in nearby Iowa and Wisconsin are allowed to take pictures in courtrooms. ... [T]hey add to the public’s understanding of what goes on in court, and that’s important.”
Sept. 24, 2011: “We respectfully point out that, when those photos [by a Knox County sheriff’s deputy] were taken inside an Illinois trial courtroom, the sky didn’t fall, and justice wasn’t thwarted. ... We encourage the Supreme Court to embrace Judge [James] Stewart’s enlightened attitude toward modern news-gathering technology and end its ban on cameras in the courtroom.”
To his credit, Kilbride did not forget the issue, either.
He told Illinois Statehouse News this week that he’s had the idea on his mind since his retention campaign, when several news organizations asked about it.
“I told them I favored it, but that I was just one vote on the court. It’s happening, quite frankly, because I pushed for it, and a majority of the justices agreed to it.”
In a seven-page “Policy for Extended Media Coverage in the Circuit Courts of Illinois,” the Supreme Court lists, point by point, how the program will work. It is modeled after Iowa’s successful procedures for courtroom cameras, and we have every reason to believe it will succeed in Illinois.
We also thank two regional chief circuit court judges – Judge Jeffrey O’Connor of the 14th Judicial Circuit and Judge Val Gunnarsson of the 15th Judicial Circuit – for planning to allow the pilot program in their courts, which include counties in the Sauk Valley.
“It will be good for the public to see how the courtrooms really work,” Gunnarsson said.
“I’m all for it,” O’Connor said.
Kilbride summed up his feelings in a statement.
“This is another step to bring more transparency and more accountability to the Illinois court system.”
Indeed it is.
Chief Justice Kilbride, you are a man of your word. We thank you.
Comments
Total Comments 0 View/Add Comments |
There have been no comments made about this story. |
