There are two types of exceptions to this prohibition that are worth noting, though neither provides video for public broadcast: • In the trial of Timothy McVeigh, who was charged with bombing the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995, Congress passed a law that required the federal court hearing the case in Denver to set up a closed-circuit viewing location for relatives of the victims in Oklahoma City. • In cases where a single courtroom will not hold all spectators, some federal courts, at the presiding judge’s discretion, have piped a closed-circuit video feed of the proceedings into an adjacent room, which can double or triple the number of spectators accommodated. You will need to check where, if anywhere, in the courthouse you are allowed to have a cell phone, pager, tape recorder, or other electronic device. The policy-making Judicial Conference of the United States in 2010 allowed district and bankruptcy courts to make those digital audio recordings of courtroom proceedings, at the discretion of the presiding judge, available online to the public through PACER at $2.40 per audio file. Previously, such access was possible only by obtaining a CD recording from a court clerk’s office for $26. Digital audio recording is used in most bankruptcy courts and a growing number of district courts (where magistrate judges account for most of the usage).
A Criminal Case The Investigation A defendant may be arrested in the course of allegedly committing a crime. But the criminal cases that attract media attention most often involve a protracted investigation prior to a defendant’s arrest. The investigation will generally be conducted by the FBI, but other federal agencies may be involved depending on the nature of the alleged crime (DEA for drug investigations, SEC for securities investigations, etc.). To obtain a search warrant or arrest warrant, the law enforcement agent and an assistant U.S. attorney will have to make an application to a magistrate judge or district court judge. The applications will be accompanied by an affidavit filed by the lead law enforcement agent, which is meant to provide the judge with evidence of probable cause. Both documents can be valuable for reporters. The application itself – a one-page form – will include information about the defendant, and the affidavit will include an overview of the facts of the case. To avoid public disclosure of the investigation, search warrant applications generally are sealed, at least until the search is conducted and sometimes until after the arrest is made. While they are sealed, the warrant application will typically show up on the court’s docket under a title that gives away nothing about the substance of the case, such as “In re search warrant application.” 14
A Journalist’s Guide to the Federal Courts