Members of the public are not allowed to attend red light camera trials and other proceedings at the Superior Court of California courthouse in the city of Corona. For the past several weeks a policy has been place denying entry to anyone who does not have a direct involvement in a specific case scheduled that day. Court security checks anyone attempting to enter the building.
“Please be advised that this court facility is closed to the general public,” a sign posted at the door states. “The facility conducts criminal trials Monday through Friday and only jurors, witnesses and associated trial personnel are permitted to enter. On Fridays, the facility is also open for litigants reporting for court trial on traffic or minor offense matters.”
Attorney R. Allen Baylis was stopped earlier this week on his way in to a red light camera case. He believes the court had no legal right to deny admittance to the public.
“It just blows my mind that anyone would even think about doing that,” Baylis told TheNewspaper. “They should know better.”
The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution states that the accused shall enjoy the right to a “speedy and public” trial. The 1980 US Supreme Court case of Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia confirmed the right of the public to attend trials is fundamental to the legal system. It found the First Amendment would be meaningless if members of the press were prevented from reporting on cases before the judicial branch.
“Criminal trials both here and in England had long been presumptively open,” Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote for the court. “This is no quirk of history; rather, it has long been recognized as an indispensable attribute of an Anglo-American trial. Both Hale in the 17th century and Blackstone in the 18th saw the importance of openness to the proper functioning of a trial; it gave assurance that the proceedings were conducted fairly to all concerned, and it discouraged perjury, the misconduct of participants, and decisions based on secret bias or partiality.”
In general, only trials involving juveniles or terrorists as defendants may be closed after showing that there is a compelling governmental interest in doing so. Members of the public and the media frequently attend photo enforcement trials to discover and spread the word about successful defenses to citations. In 2004, the Los Angeles County court attempted to ban the editor of the highwayrobbery.net website from approaching the courthouse to provide motorists with copies of legal rulings that dismissed red light camera tickets.
Baylis intends to review the available legal options to compel the court to open cases to the public.
[Courtesy:Thenewspaper.com]