WWW. ANANEWS.COM
JANUARY 2009
Arizona Supreme Court strengthens its rule allowing cameras in the court By David J. Bodney and Chris Moeser Steptoe & Johnson LLP Journalists have an improved right to cover courtroom proceedings with cameras under a new rule adopted by the Arizona Supreme Court that took effect on January 1, 2009. Rule 122 of the Arizona Supreme Court requires judges – before they can limit or prohibit camera access – to issue “specific, on-the-record findings” that the likelihood of harm outweighs the public benefits of camera coverage. The new rule, which was adopted by the Supreme Court last September, also makes judges’ denials of requests for camera coverage reviewable by a special action. KPNX Broadcasting Co., the NBC affiliate station in Phoenix, filed a petition to amend Rule 122 in the Arizona Supreme Court in November 2007 after finding that courts were denying requests for camera coverage at an increasing rate, often without explanation or hearing. Many of these denials occurred in high-profile cases of acute public interest. KPNX’s petition sought to add basic procedural safeguards to a rule that had not been altered since its inception 25 years ago. Drawing on recent decisions in Mississippi and New Hampshire, KPNX’s petition cited numerous studies that found significant benefits and few measurable harms attributable to cameras in the courtrooms. The petition identified four other states – Florida, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Wash-
ington – that either presumptively favor camera coverage of courtroom proceedings, or require courts to make specific factual findings and consider less restrictive alternatives before prohibiting coverage. During a comment period that lasted more than six months, KPNX enlisted the support of the Barbara Rodriguez Mundell, Presiding Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, who suggested a few additional changes to the station’s proposal. For example, Judge Mundell suggested that judges consider the “timeliness of the request” in deciding whether to allow camera coverage. Under the new Rule 122, most requests to tape or photograph
a proceeding must be made “no less than two days in advance of the hearing.” Journalists should pay special attention to this portion of the new rule, which requires requests for camera coverage to be submitted “to the judge of the particular proceeding sufficiently in advance of the proceeding or portion thereof as not to delay or interfere with it.” Photographers and reporters also should pay close attention to section (l) of the new rule, which prohibits audio recording and photography “in any part of the court building where a judicial proceeding is not being conducted.” Unless the court expressly agrees, “there shall be no audio recording continued on page 6