Court & Hearings

The following question was originally submitted to John Roska, a lawyer Someone who represents clients in courts or who gives legal advice and writer for the weekly column "The Law Q&A" in the Champaign News Gazette. The article has been updated to include changes in the law and additional information. 

Question

We now see news coverage of Illinois court proceedings, so cameras must be allowed in courtrooms. Can trials be broadcast live? Can anybody take pictures in a courtroom?

Answer

Cameras are permitted in many Illinois courtrooms, but not all. Since cameras were first allowed in 2012, a few trials have been broadcast live.  

Prior to December 16, 2020, only the press could take pictures. They still must have advance notice and permission from a judge. Now, the parties in court and their counsel Another name for a lawyer may take pictures of court documents with a judge's permission. Generally, taking photographs, video, or audio recordings in court is only allowed with permission from the Supreme Court. This rule doesn't apply to areas next to or near the courtroom, but courts can regulate those areas when needed. 

Courtroom photography was once common. That’s how we have pictures of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey Trial When the issues of a case are heard in court and decided by a judge or jury ," and the 1935 Lindbergh kidnapping Secretly taking and confining a person against their will -murder trial.

In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court said that cameras in the courtroom had deprived Billy Sol Estes of a fair trial. Therefore, they overturned his fraud The deception of someone(s) with intent to cause damage (not including  forgeries and counterfeiting). conviction When someone is declared guilty of a crime by a court . That put a temporary end to most courtroom photography.

Illinois court rules prohibited courtroom photography until 1984. The door then opened slightly to cameras, though, only in the Appellate and Supreme Courts.

You can now listen to recordings of arguments before the Appellate Court. You can watch video of Illinois Supreme Court arguments. To sample that, go to the Illinois Courts website.

Those courts don’t hold trials, though. Trials are what most people want to see. In 2012, the Illinois Supreme Court began to experiment with “extended media coverage” (i.e. cameras) in 11 counties. That’s how we see video of court proceedings on the TV, and pictures in the paper.

Currently, 62 counties now allow cameras in their courtrooms. In 2016, the rules permitting cameras in the courtroom became permanent and each circuit can apply for permission to allow cameras. 22 out of the 24 circuits have permission to allow cameras. 

The rules state that “the rights of extended media coverage may be exercised only by news media.” “News media” are defined as “established news gathering and reporting agencies.”

The press doesn’t get to photograph anything they want. They have to apply in advance to cover specific cases. The parties to the case and any witness A person who answers questions in court under oath who’s going to testify To answer questions under oath can object. The judge handling the case decides whether to allow cameras. The judge decides whether to grant a witness’s objection A protest made by an attorney during a trial. It asks the judge to exclude certain evidence or testimony. If the judge doesn't grant the objection, it's called a denial. .

When cameras are allowed for a particular case, they’re restricted. A maximum of 2 TV cameras are allowed. A maximum of 2 photographers are allowed with 2 cameras each. Cameras and photographers can’t move around. No extra lighting is permitted.  

Jury selection can’t be photographed or recorded at all. Once selected, jurors can't be photographed or recorded.

Cameras in the courtroom has mostly led to news highlights. Live trial coverage is allowed. In 2012, a Kankakee County murder trial was the first to be broadcast live. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, some circuits, like the 21st and the 19th, have set-up their own livestreams on their websites to broadcast court proceedings.

Frequent use of remote court appearances required the Supreme Court to change the rules of live streaming court appearances to preserve public access to the courts. 

Photographs or video are explicitly permitted:

• When permitted by court order,
• In remote proceedings,
• If permitted by a judge in problem solving courts for events like marriages and graduations, and 
• If permitted by a judge to make a broadcast available to people who have a right to be present during court proceedings, but don't want to be there in person. 

However, this rule doesn't allow photography or recording of a virtual proceeding or court broadcast except:

• Recordings by the court, or
• By an order approving extended media coverage for the press.