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I woke up super early (4:30am!) yesterday and went to the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse to watch the Donald Trump trial. It was a fascinating day.
I did find it troubling though that even though the case is officially, “THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK against DONALD J. TRUMP,” as the case is captioned, only six regular “people” were allowed in the courtroom, with the rest of the seats taken by the media.
While reporters are doing a generally commendable job covering the trial, seeing the actual trial was a completely different experience than reading about it or watching talking heads discuss the trial on TV, giving perspective of the impact and credibility of both lawyers and witnesses.
New York law requires that courts are open to “every” citizen. “The sittings of every court within this state shall be public, and every citizen may freely attend the same.” New York Consolidated Laws, Judiciary Law – JUD § 4. Allowing a token six people who have to queue in the sidewalk outside the courthouse in the early morning hours to have a chance of getting one of a very limited number of seats doesn’t seem to be in compliance with this law.
I know you have sponsored legislation to give judges discretion to permit cameras in their courtrooms, but this would be too late for this trial.
Especially as this case is being carried out in the name of “the people,” and given the existing law that trials are open to “every” citizen, is there any more that can be done to provide real public access to the remainder of this trial?
Glad you were able to see some of the trial, which everyone should be able to see.
The report linked below provides a great overview of cameras in the courts across the country.
https://moderncourts.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Cameras-in-the-Courts-Enhancing-Transparency-in-the-New-York-State-Judiciary.pdf
The only way to fix this problem is through the legislation sponsored by Senator Hoylman-Sigal, which has passed the NY Senate but not the NY Assembly.