A group of 13 federal district courts will livestream audio from select proceedings in civil cases as part of an effort to improve public access to court proceedings, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts announced Tuesday (article available here). These livestreams will be available on the courts’ designated YouTube channels in real-time.
The effort, which is part of a two-year pilot program, comes as issues surrounding the public's access to the judicial branch gained greater attention this year because of restrictions instituted at courthouses amid the coronavirus pandemic. Hearings permitted to be livestreamed will require the consent of the parties involved in the case and the approval of the presiding judge. The pilot program “excludes trials and civil proceedings involving jurors and witnesses, and also sealed, confidential, and classified materials.”
“While the pilot temporarily suspends a prohibition on broadcasting federal court proceedings in the designated courts, the livestreams may not be recorded or rebroadcast,” the federal judiciary said. The Judicial Conference of the United States adopted a prohibition against “broadcasting, televising, recording, or taking photographs in the courtroom and areas immediately adjacent thereto” in 1972 for both criminal and civil cases.
The courts participating in the program are in the districts of Northern California, Southern Florida, Northern Georgia, Kansas, Montana, Eastern Missouri, Nevada, Northern New York, Western Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Eastern Tennessee, Eastern Washington, and Washington, D.C.