State Senate Majority Leader Calls For New Rules Protecting Public Access to Court Rooms

The recent problems in the Yolo County Courtroom have led one of the foremost legislative advocates for open government, State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (D-East Los Angeles) to call for the Judicial Council of California to adopt new rules protecting public access to courtrooms.

In addition to Senator Romero's role as Majority Leader, she also chairs the Senate Committee on Public Safety.

According to a release from the Majority Leader's Office on Monday, the California Supreme Court, upholding the constitutional right to public trials, has held that a judge may close a courtroom only under very limited circumstances and after making specified findings on the record in open court.

“The recent incident in Yolo County is a shocking reminder of how easily these constitutional rights can be violated... Open, public courts are a cornerstone of our system of justice.”

“Sheriff’s deputies must provide bailiff and security services to county courts in a manner that protects the constitutional right of defendants to a public trial and the right of the public to attend court proceedings... The Judicial Council’s pending rulemaking on courtroom security provides an ideal opportunity to be proactive and ensure that courtrooms throughout California are open to the public.”

In a letter to William Vickrey, the Administrative Director of the Court on the Judicial Council, Senator Romero wrote:

"The recent incident in Yolo County is a shocking reminder of how easily these constitutional rights can be violated. On June 18, 2008, during the arraignment of a defendant charged with murdering a sheriffs deputy, courtroom deputies locked the media and public, including the defendant's family, out of the courtroom. The deputies allowed the victim's family and other law enforcement officers into the courtroom through a side door. An internal investigation concluded that the deputies did not follow the presiding commissioner's order that entry be on a first-come, first-served basis. The sheriff said locking the courtroom was a mistake but that he did not intend to discipline the deputies involved. The county's presiding judge said that he lacked authority to take action against these deputies because they provide security services to the courts pursuant to contract."

Furthermore she was concerned with the fact that this was not simply an isolated incident that indicated a simple mistake:

"News reports indicate that this was not an isolated case of denying access to court proceedings in Yolo County. Moreover, anecdotal evidence indicates that bailiffs in other counties have unlawfully locked courtrooms, such as during the start of afternoon session while a judge finishes up cases left over from the morning calendar."

The Senator is proposing new language to the Superior Court Law Enforcement Act of 2002 which requires the presiding judge and sheriff in each county to develop a security plan. The suggested language would require sheriff's deputies to provide courtroom security services in a manner that protects the right to public court proceedings.

The proposal adds two key sections. First:

"Each court security plan must address how the presiding judge and sheriff will ensure that security services are provided in a manner that protects the Sixth Amendment right of criminal defendants to a public trial and the right of public access to court proceedings under the First Amendment and Section 124 of the Code of Civil Procedure."

Second:

"Describe policies and procedures for ensuring that security services are provided in a manner that protects the Sixth Amendment right of criminal defendants to a public trial and the right of public access to court proceedings under the First Amendment and Section 124 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Describe the training to be provided to ensure that courtrooms remain open to the public unless a lawful court order authorizes closure. Describe outreach efforts to local media and any Bench-Bar-Media Committee to facilitate discussion of concerns about fair trials, the free press, and other key issues affecting the courts, the media, and the public."

According to the Senator, requiring counties to address these constitutional rights will:

"will guarantee that county judges and sheriffs specify how they will protect these rights when they develop their security plans before the November 1, 2009, deadline. It will enable them to identify education and training necessary to ensure that no deputy or court staff mistakenly denies the public or media access to court proceedings. It will help counties avoid the expense of having to retry a defendant if a conviction is overturned because the constitutional right to a public trial was violated."

Senator Romero continues:

"As you know, open court proceedings are a cornerstone of our system of justice. Openness assures the public that justice is administered fairly and guards against prosecutorial bias and perjury. Public confidence in our judicial system will quickly erode if we do not take steps now to ensure that courts do not operate in secret. Thus, I strongly urge you to revise your pending rules to help protect the constitutional right of public access to courts."

Senator Gloria Romero has a long track record in advocating for open government. She has been outspoken in several attempts recently to open up police records to public scrutiny. She has successfully modified the Brown Act to facilitate open government in local meetings. And now she has proposed strong new language that at the very least will make presiding judges cognizant of their responsibility to provide open court proceedings. Such changes will, if nothing else, force presiding judges to consider the consequences of locking courtroom doors.

Yolo County must continue to sort out this situation on their own. However, it is clear that the rest of the state has taken notice, and that can only be a good thing in terms of bringing down pressure to resolve the situation in the best possible way.

---Doug Paul Davis reporting