TV journalists, officials clash over court access
Cameras briefly barred from ABQ courthouse
TV news cameras were barred from state District Court on Friday morning following a spat with officials the day before over camera access to a special multi-agency meeting that media had been invited to at the courthouse in Albuquerque.
The exclusion lasted just a few hours until the local TV stations met with officials to revisit the expectations and possible legal requirement for granting media access in the courthouse, whether for a court proceeding or other event.
District Attorney Raúl Torrez invited media to the courthouse for a Thursday meeting of the Bernalillo County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which involves members of agencies including police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, politicians and more, triggering the spat.
The council has treated its meetings as public and open, though the legal status as subject to the state’s open meeting laws is unclear. By law, open meetings must be accessible to the public, including media, who must be given reasonable access for their cameras and presence.
While open meeting law is clear that cameras are allowed without question, court rules require photographers and camera crews request permission 24 hours in advance of entering — which not all did Thursday because they believed the meeting to operate like an open meeting and they’d been invited.
The clash that followed had court officials calling the scene chaotic as cameras tried to fit inside a full capacity meeting room with officials saying they had to leave or alter coverage plans.
The clash also led court Executive Officer Jim Noel to ban journalists from bringing cameras and phones inside Friday.
They are usually allowed to bring in phones and cameras, with notice. The ban prevented some media from covering hearings Friday morning, despite the outlets having permission via the established process.
Noel lifted the ban after a Friday morning meeting at which television stations and their attorneys discussed access expectations. The meeting resolved with a desire to move future council meetings to a location free of such restrictions on cameras.