Local Rule LR 83.4: RESTRICTIONS ON MEDIA AND RELEASE OF INFORMATION

LR 83.4 RESTRICTIONS ON MEDIA AND RELEASE OF INFORMATION

(A) Recording, Broadcasting or Photographing Judicial Proceedings.

Regardless of whether Court is actually in session, photographing, recording, or broadcasting in or from a district courthouse in connection with judicial proceedings or during judicial proceedings, including those before a United States Magistrate Judge, is prohibited. A judicial officer may, however, allow use of photographic or electronic equipment for: the presentation of evidence; the perpetuation of the record; ceremonial, investiture, or naturalization proceedings; security purposes; and other purposes of judicial administration.

Still cameras, video cameras, and/or any electronic devices equipped with cameras, including cellular phones, smart phones, tablets, laptop computers, and devices that wirelessly connect to and pair with such devices to transmit data, will not be allowed into district courthouses except by Court order or by direct escort and supervision of an employee of a federal agency whose offices are located therein. Attorneys possessing Court issued identification cards, authorized federally certified contract interpreters, and Court employees are permitted to bring their personal electronic devices into the courthouse; however, they are bound by the same restrictions as the general public.

To facilitate the enforcement of this rule, no photographic, broadcasting, or recording equipment, with the exception of the recording equipment in United States magistrate judge courtrooms and that of official court reporters, will be permitted to be operated on courthouse floors occupied by the Court, except as otherwise permitted by the presiding judge.

Personal devices without cameras may be allowed onto floors occupied by the Court; however, these devices shall neither be operated in any courtroom or hearing room, nor be operated in any public area where their operation is disruptive to a Court proceeding or Court operations unless otherwise permitted by order of the Court.

All electronic photographic, broadcasting, and recording equipment brought into federal courthouses in this district shall be subject to inspection at any time by the United States Marshals Service.

(B) Provisions for Special Orders in Widely Publicized or Sensational Civil Cases.

In a widely publicized or sensational civil case, the Court, on motion of either party or on its own motion, may issue a special order governing such matters as extra-judicial statements by parties and witnesses likely to interfere with the rights of the parties or the rights of the accused to a fair trial by an impartial jury; the seating and conduct in the courtroom of spectators and news media representatives; the management and sequestration of jurors and witnesses; and any other matters which the Court may deem appropriate for inclusion in such an order.