Cameras in the Courts program,264 it will have to amend its local rules to comport with program guidelines.265
Revision of Massachusetts State Rule While the federal court in Massachusetts was struggling with its rules on camera coverage, the state’s own courts rejected a motion to video record and webcast a tobacco trial. Although the Massachusetts Superior Court had denied Courtroom View’s request on the grounds that the service was “not a ‘news media’ or a ‘newsgathering’ organization within the meaning of [the state’s rule regarding broadcast of court proceedings],”266 the Supreme Judicial Court vacated and allowed the webcast.267 On the same day that it allowed the webcast, the Supreme Judicial Court requested comments regarding proposed amendments to S.J.C. Rule 1:19.268 The proposed revisions would permit journalists, including bloggers, to possess and operate electronic devices in the courtroom, to record and transmit proceedings.269 As of late May, the Court had received 11 responses to the request for comment.270
OpenCourt.us Finally, in an experimental project that may be a portent of things to come, WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station, is using digital technology to make one Massachusetts courtroom more accessible to the public.271 Launched on May 2, 2010 in Quincy District Court, OpenCourt.us is a pilot project supported by a grant from the Knight Foundation. The pilot project’s stated mission is to “experiment with how digital technologies can foster the openness of the American courts with the idea that more transparent courts make for a stronger democracy.”272 OpenCourt provides live-streaming video of proceedings held in the court’s First Session courtroom, with the video stored in an online, public archive of proceedings.273 The project also includes an in-court wifi network for use by journalists and bloggers.274 The long-term goal of the project is to use the experience in the Quincy court “to help courts around the country implement technologies and craft digital media policies.”275 264. See infra note 282. 265. See infra p. 250, et. seq. 266. Courtroom View Network v. Justices of the Super. Ct., 2010 WL 4942139, *1 (Mass. Dec. 3, 2010). The court broadcasting rule is Mass. Sup. Jud. Ct. Rule 1:19, which generally permits such broadcasting, subject to certain limitations. 267. Id. 268. See Mass. Sup. Jud. Ct., Notice Inviting Comment: Proposed Amendment to Rule 1:19 of the Rules of the Supreme Judicial Court, Dec. 3, 2010, http://www.mass.gov/courts/sjc/comment-sjc-r119-012811.html. 269. Rule 1:19 Subcommittee, Mass. Sup. Jud. Ct., SJC Rule 1:19 Changes, Dec. 3, 2010, available at http://www.mass.gov/courts/sjc/docs/Rules/sjc-r119-proposed-summary-changes-012811.pdf. 270. Email from Christine P. Burak, Senior Counsel, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, to author (May 26, 2011). 271. See http://opencourt.us. “The project is being run by WBUR, Boston’s NPR station, with the full cooperation of Quincy District Court and the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Joe Spurr and Val Wang will be in court most days to facilitate the project. The project is also being supported by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Judiciary-Media Committee, the National Conference of the Court Public Information Officers, the Boston University School of Communication and the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society.” Opencourt.us, Frequently Asked Questions: Who is involved in the project?, http://opencourt.us/about/faq/#who. 272. Opencourt.us, What is OpenCourt?, http://opencourt.us/about/. 273. Opencourt.us, Frequently Asked Questions, http://opencourt.us/about/faq/. 274. Id. 275. Opencourt.us, What is OpenCourt?, http://opencourt.us/about/. Reynolds Courts & Media Law Journal
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