« Ind. Courts - "Jeffersonville official Peggy Wilder ordered to use ignition interlock device" | Main | Ind. Decisions - Combined medical malpractice verdicts could tap $90M from state fund »
Monday, August 30, 2010
Ind. Courts - Tippecanoe County judges pull plug on cell phone use
Sophia Voravong reported in the August 29th Lafayette Journal Courier:
The good news, for people who fear not being able to contact employers, friends or family: Cell phones won't be banned from the Tippecanoe County Courthouse for now.The not-so-good news for that crowd: Beginning Monday, cell phones must be turned off once courthouse visitors step inside. That includes courtrooms, offices and hallways.
The policy was adopted Thursday during a monthly meeting for Tippecanoe County's judges.
"From my point of view, there were several trials recently where cell phones were not just a distraction but a potential danger," said Judge Thomas Busch of Tippecanoe Superior Court 2. He presides over cases involving major felonies.
"This is the easiest point of control."
Specifically, people going through the public entrance on Columbia Street must switch off their phones in front of security bailiffs there. Two handwritten signs that read "Turn cell phones off!" went up Friday afternoon.
Attorneys, courthouse staff and others who use the private entrances on Third Street and Fourth Street will be exempt, Busch said.
The policy comes about two months after the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office, which is ultimately responsible for courthouse security, decided to review whether cell phones should be banned courthouse-wide, largely due to security concerns.
The main concern is picture- taking. Even basic cell phones can take pictures and sometimes video.
During a Superior Court 2 trial in May for a man charged with dealing cocaine, security bailiffs learned that someone may have taken photos of jurors with his cell phone. * * *
Recently, Judge Michael Morrissey of Tippecanoe Superior Court 6 stopped someone seated in the gallery who was videotaping a hearing. Superior 6 is one of Tippecanoe County's high-volume courts, handling traffic infractions, misdemeanors and some lower-level felonies.
"I've also had people answer their cell phones during hearings," Morrissey said. "I tell them, if they need to use their phones, they need to go in the hallway. ... Statewide, the movement has been toward (looking at) bans."
The Allen County Courthouse in Fort Wayne was the first in Indiana to ban cell phones from the building, beginning in November 2006. Steuben County, also in northeast Indiana, soon followed suit.
Morrissey said the decision to require that cell phones be turned off was deemed a less intrusive option.
If a ban was adopted at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse, visitors most likely would have to return their cell phones to their homes or vehicles. That's the policy currently in place for contraband, such as knives and even hairspray.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 30, 2010 11:10 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts