Electronic 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.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Friday unanimously approved a “very overdue” bill that would require law enforcement officials to get a warrant before accessing e-mail messages, updating a dated privacy law.

The proposed amendments are historic and will create a consistent method for handling government access to online communications, said Sophia Cope, director of government affairs at the Newspaper Association of America. But the measure likely won’t go to the Senate this year, forcing the process to start over again next year, she said.

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.

Electronic communications -- specifically tweets, text and e-mail messages -- between city officials discussing public business are subject to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, even if they were sent from personal cellphones and accounts, a state circuit judge ruled.

After reporters asked for clarification on a judicial order that allowed them to tweet -- with one restriction -- during the Jerry Sandusky trial, a Pennsylvania judge changed his mind Monday and banned all electronic communication in the courtroom.

The Connecticut Appellate Court ruled this week that a state open records law provision permitting records requesters to use “hand-held scanner[s]” to copy records excludes the use of flatbed scanners. Under the court's interpretation of the statute, requesters seeking to scan public records using their own scanning devices may now be limited to using those that are actually "hand-held."

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that the Cuyahoga County Recorder’s Office must provide copies of electronic images sought under open records requests at cost – $1 per CD – rather than charging a statutory $2-per-page photocopying fee.

President Obama issued a memorandum today calling for federal agencies to submit specific plans to reform records management practices, and report to the Office of Management and Budget within 120 days.

AP Photo

Pres. Obama at the White House on Monday.