« Ind. Law - Two Indianapolis attorneys' new baby is a tiny miracle | Main | Ind. Courts - Hamilton County's new Superior Court 6 opens for business today [Updated] »

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Ind. Courts - Steuben Courthouse to ban cells in court [Updated]

Kara Lopp of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports today:

The ban, which starts Wednesday, comes in response to the misuse of a cell phone during a private juvenile hearing about two weeks ago in the county’s Circuit Court. Cameras and other recording devices will also be banned.

Circuit Court Judge Allen Wheat and Superior Judge William Fee will enact the policy and have asked county commissioners to pass an ordinance similar to the one that bans weapons, including pocket knives, from the Courthouse.

Courthouse employees and attorneys will not be under the ban. Other county employees will have to remember to leave their cell phones behind when they enter the building, Wheat said.

Unauthorized people caught with a cell phone in the Courthouse can be arrested and charged with contempt of court. But most likely, both Wheat and Fee said the phones will be confiscated at the door by Courthouse security officers and returned when residents leave.

A possible problem was first realized about two weeks ago, when Wheat was presiding over a private hearing, which involved a neglected and abused child victim. A member of Wheat’s court staff received a call from someone in LaGrange County who had received a phone call and could hear the court proceedings.

Wheat declined to identify the caller or who made the call. No charges will be filed in the matter, he said.

Although they don’t know whether the call was an accident or had malicious intentions, the judges said the notion that private hearings could no longer be private scared them into adopting the policy.

[Updated 2:15 PM] The AP has now picked up this story, with a report that begins:
ANGOLA - Judges have decided to ban cell phones, cameras and other recording devices from the Steuben County Courthouse after someone was able to hear a juvenile court proceeding during a cell phone call.

Steuben Circuit Judge Allen Wheat and Superior Court Judge William Fee announced Wednesday that the electronic devices would no longer be permitted in the courthouse as of Jan. 10.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 4, 2007 01:00 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts