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Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Ind. Courts - Fort Wayne paper opines against courthouse-wide cell phone ban
Following up on this story from June 15th, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette today has an editorial titled "Hardly a ringing success." Some quotes:
The ban’s exemptions – for building employees and attorneys – create two classes of people. Why, for example, should attorneys get a pass but not the paralegals who file paperwork in government offices?Nearly all the problems described by judges concern how phones were being misused in courtrooms. Rings disrupted proceedings, phones could be used as cameras, testimony could be relayed to people outside the courtroom. Yet many of the visitors to these buildings don’t set foot in a courtroom. Citizens go to the Courthouse to request marriage licenses and view government documents, for example. People go to the Justice Center to pay traffic fines.
Local judges and Fries should at least consider banning phones from courtrooms but not from the buildings. Large signs should be placed at each courtroom entrance; judges can remind everyone of the ban when proceedings begin; bailiffs and security personnel can seize phones when they are displayed – or ring.
Eventually, the cell phone ban may spread wider. Steuben County followed Allen’s lead, for example, and Porter County has announced a ban. Lake and Marion counties could also follow.
But until Hoosiers become accustomed to it, they are being inconvenienced, often through no fault of their own.
This page reluctantly supported the ban when it was announced early this year. But the experience after six months indicates the ban is not working well, and a review is in order.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 19, 2007 08:23 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts