Supreme Double Standard on Cell Phones in Court

I've written before about the fact that many courthouses "ban" cellphones and other electronic devices from parts of the building, or from the entire edifice, often have exemption for a select elite: judges and their staffs, often along with lawyers, police officers, and others.

Yesterday's incident at the U.S. Supreme Court points this out to an extreme.

Michigan Case Doesn't Show the Way on Device Bans

Michigan Live reports that a Michigan man has filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging a policy banning cell phones from courthouses in Saginaw County, Michigan. While I am sympathetic with the plaintiff's case here, it is extremely unlikely that the Supreme Court will take the case. And even if it did, the Court would likely not rule for the plaintiff because of the technicalities of this particular case.

Supreme Court's Camera Pananoia Snares Intern

Politico reports that there has been another instance of an unauthorized camera in the Supreme Court: this time, by a CNN intern in the court's press room.

Another Supreme Court Video Surfaces, Showing Folly of Camera Ban

For the third time in about 14 months, activists have released a video of them interrupting proceedings of the U.S. Supreme Court.

More Illicit Supreme Court Video

Still and video cameras are still officially not allowed in the courtroom of the U.S. Supreme Court, but for the second time in as many years a video has surfaced that was taken while the court was in session.

SCOTUS Undercover Video Appears to Violate Camera Ban

cross posted at the Digital Media Law Project

People are discovering a recently-posted You Tube video that apparently shows both a portion of the oral argument in a campaign finance case in October 2013 and Wednesday's interruption of an oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Twitter Overruled in Supreme Court

One of the persistent issues that I've written about on this blog is the use of Twitter in the courtroom: both authorized use by journalists and unauthorized use by jurors and other trial participants. This is a growing issue that an increasing number of trial and appellate courts across the country are facing.

Hot Topics

Two of the issues that I've frequently written on this blog and elsewhere are jurors' use of social media and the Internet, and public access to court proceedings, including cameras in courtrooms.

I've been interviewed on both of these topics in the past few days.