Keene Sentinel: Orders outside the court
Posted on May 3rd, 2009 at 10:13pm by bile Tags: Andrew Carroll, cameras, Dave Ridley, disorderly conduct, district court judge, district court judges, district courts, Edward Burke, Free State Project, Free Staters, government, James Andrew Carroll, Judicial Branch, Keene, Keene District Court, Keene Sentinel, Manchester, marijuana, marijuana activist, New Hampshire, police, police officer, privacy, protest, public hearings, radio, state law, Supreme Court, video recordshttp://www.keenesentinel.com/…
A legal fog pervades the corridors and lobbies of New Hampshire’s courts.
The rules for recording public hearings in courtrooms are relatively clear: The Supreme Court says it’s allowed unless “there is a substantial likelihood of harm to any person or other harmful consequence.”
But those foggy gray areas beyond the courtrooms remain untouched by state law.
Snapping a photo or recording video in these places is permitted in some district courts and prohibited in others, at the presiding judge’s discretion.
Keene District Court Judge Edward J. Burke banned photography outside the courtroom in February in an effort to protect juveniles and victims of crimes walking through the lobby from being caught on film without their consent.
“All the district court judges who have had this issue come up in their courthouse have thought about it and we’re trying to deal with it as fairly and responsibly as we can,” state judicial branch spokeswoman Laura Kiernan said. “It’s the privacy rights of citizens that we’re concerned with here.”
On the other side of the issue, a group of activists with the Free State Project — an effort to recruit 20,000 people who prefer limited government to live in New Hampshire — are riled because they believe their right to record in a public place is being violated.
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