Courtroom access

Massachusetts’ highest court ruled Monday that a documentary filmmaker cannot access an audio recording of a controversial rape trial because it is not an official judicial record of the trial.

In the first decision ever in Virginia to address the issue of moot arguments, the state Supreme Court decided Thursday that a judge incorrectly denied a local newspaper access to trial exhibits in a 2011 child murder case.

The justices also ruled that the case was not moot despite the fact that the contested documents sought by the Newport News Daily Press were released to the public two years ago.

A Washington, D.C. trial judge declined to explain in a hearing Wednesday why he will continue to keep under seal courtroom transcripts and records regarding an investigation into the 2010 trial of the man found guilty of murdering Chandra Levy.

The Utah Supreme Court on Monday approved a rule that will allow journalists to tweet, live stream and blog from the courtroom for the first time in the state's history.

The rule, which goes into effect April 1, permits the media to use laptops, cell phones and cameras in court and makes Utah’s notoriously restrictive courtrooms some of the most accessible.

An amendment to Kansas court rules now lets journalists use laptops and cell phones to report from the courtroom.

Reporters still need permission from the presiding judge, but the recent amendment to Rule 1001 clarifies that such devices may be used by journalists. Before the amendment was added, there was no mention of laptops or smartphones in the rule, and judges assumed such devices were not permitted, according to court spokesman Ron Keefover.

A Florida judge denied prosecutors’ attempts to seal court records and close future hearings in the prosecution of George Zimmerman, ruling in a hearing today that “this is an open court, this is a public case.”

OpenCourt, a Massachusetts courtroom transparency program can begin streaming video of jury trials at a local district court, a judge from the state’s highest court ruled on Tuesday.

A Colorado judge denied the media's request to film and photograph Monday's hearing of the man accused of killing 12 and wounding 58 people at an Aurora movie theater last week.

Arapahoe County District Court Judge William Sylvester has ordered that no cameras or audio recording be allowed at James Holmes' July 30 hearing where charges are expected to be filed against him. The order is part of a broader trend of restrictions issued by Sylvester limiting press coverage in the Colorado shooting.

In the backdrop of mounting media attention, the attorneys for two boys withdrew their motion on Monday to charge a 17-year-old Kentucky teenager for contempt after she potentially violated a court order by identifying them on Twitter as her attackers in a juvenile sexual assault case.

“There you go, lock me up,” Savannah Dietrich tweeted when she named the teens who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her. “I’m not protecting anyone that made my life a living Hell.”

The Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America cannot prevent the release of court documents introduced in a child sexual abuse jury trial that resulted in a $19.4 million verdict against the organization.