Minnesota Lawyer Blog

It’s good enough for Wisconsin, Iowa, and South Dakota. But not for Minnesota.

Our neighbors to the west are actually not the latest state to allow cameras and other recording devices into its Supreme Court -- it did so in 2001. But now, thanks to a high court ruling, South Dakota has expanded the use of recording devices, allowing cameras and tape recorders in its circuit courts. Next up in SoDak: A study of whether cameras should be allowed in lower courts.

Meanwhile, as has been reported in Minnesota Lawyer, the issue of cameras in our courtrooms is a dead discussion for the time being, despite endorsements of the practice from judges in both Iowa and Wisconsin.

Do we know something that all the states around us don’t know? Or is it the other way around?

The Minnesota Supreme Court is currently considering whether to allow cameras in the courtroom, and some trial judges are concerned. Are they worried about Jimmy Olsen coming in and snapping a picture for the Daily Planet? Hardly. A Mike Wallace wannabe kicking in the courtroom door with TV lights blazing? Not even close. No, it's the pernicious blogger who has struck fear deep into the hearts of some of the state's judiciary.

One of the judges' concerns I have heard raised about cameras in the courtroom is the specter of the "unshaven blogger" coming in with cell phone camera at the ready. Apparently the judges are worried about being made to look sinister or downright ridiculous by a slip of the tongue or out-of-context snippet of dialogue winding up as a video posted on a blog or YouTube.

It is an interesting twist to an old conflict between the Fourth Estate and the third branch of government. It used to be the argument was that cameras in the courtroom were too intrusive. Now, with technology giving absolutely anybody the ability to take pictures and video unnoticed at the drop of a hat, the problem might be that they are not intrusive enough

Meanwhile, Court Communications Director John Kostouros last night at the New Media Ethics Forum in St. Paul that judges and court personnel are still trying to figure how to deal with online media access issues.

It's a whole new world.

Please note this is a corrected version. See comments for details.