New York Court of Appeals Uphold Statute Banning Cameras in Courtrooms

As most have already read in the mainstream media, the New York Court of Appeals rejected Court TV's constitutional challenge to the ban of audio-visual coverage of most court proceedings in New York courtrooms.  The Court upheld Civil Rights Law sec. 52.

Here is an interesting essay on cameras in courtrooms in the Canadian Journal of Communication.  Here is article in on the National Press Photographers Association's Website that discusses the dedication of the attorneys in crafting this constitutional argument.

Are New Yorkers and the rest of the country being denied some part of their First Amendment rights based on the existence of this statute?  I tend to think not.

Comments

[Reed]

Seems to me that the statutory ban on cameras in the courtroom is an encroachment by the legislative and executive branches on the third branch of government. The Court should have deemed the statute unconstitutional on separation of powers grounds and made its own determination as to what is appropriate in the courtroom.