Cameras in courts

Video recordings of the contentious trial that struck down California’s ban on same-sex marriage should be released to the public, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered Monday, ruling that there is no compelling reason that the tapes should remain sealed.

Cameras placed in federal courtrooms as part of a three-year pilot project will be controlled by judges and not instantly available to the media, according to guidelines announced Wednesday.

Cameras in the courtroom continue to incite debate, with a motion filed this week concerning the use of recordings of last year's trial court proceedings challenging Proposition 8, California's ban on gay marriage. The proponents of Proposition 8 on Wednesday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco (9th Cir.) to order the now-retired judge who last year presided over the trial in Perry v.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco (9th Cir.) allowed the live broadcast Monday of more than two hours of oral arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a case challenging the constitutionality of California’s ban on same-sex marriages.

The hearing before the three-judge panel is the latest legal step in the case brought by two same-sex couples to challenge California’s Proposition 8, an amendment to the state constitution enacted by voters in 2008.

The Judicial Conference of the United States announced Tuesday a pilot project to allow cameras in some federal district courtroom proceedings.

The California Court of Appeal threw out a lower court's order prohibiting the Los Angeles Times from publishing photographs of a defendant on trial for murder last week.

"[W]e conclude the superior court's order precluding publication of photographs lawfully taken unconstitutionally violates the prohibition against prior restraint of speech," wrote Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sanjay T. Kumar in an unanimous opinion.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has passed several measures allowing cameras in the courtroom, the Blog of Legal Times reports.