High court ‘generally pleased’ with camera experiment

INDIANA–Cameras were allowed in an Indiana courtroom for the first time in state history in early September as a result of an experiment agreed to by the chief justice of the state’s Supreme Court.

Before this experiment, which is expected to last six months to one year, Indiana was one of only three states and the District of Columbia that do not allow at least some camera coverage in their courtrooms.

A spokesman for Chief Justice Randall Shepard said Shepard has been “generally pleased with the results,” and that the high court justices will soon meet with justices of the Court of Appeals to decide whether or not to extend the experiment to appellate courts.

Cameras were allowed in an Indiana Supreme Court hearing held in Evansville to consider the appeal of death row inmate Matthew Eric Wrinkles. Photographers were instructed that they could not move or “pan” their cameras during proceedings. However, enforcement of the regulations for cameras in the courtroom have already loosened, Remondini said. At a hearing of the high court in Indianapolis, the second time cameras were allowed in a courtroom, print photographers were allowed to move their cameras.

Cameras will be allowed in three more arguments in October, and four in November. Coverage is limited to two television news cameras, two still cameras and one audio system. Media representatives must file their requests for coverage with Shepard at least 48 hours before oral argument is scheduled. (Indiana Supreme Court Order No. 94S00-9609-MS-602.)