Virtual court

missed by not having someone actually in the courtroom,” Strom said.

After the AP and other media filed legal motions, a Georgia judge granted just two media pool seats in the courtroom right before the start of jury selection in the trial of three white men charged with chasing and killing Arbery. Graphic cellphone video of the 25year-old Black man being shot sparked outrage nationally last year, and the trial is being closely watched as a referendum on how the legal system treats Black victims. The judge has since allowed a third reporter and a photographer into the courtroom.

In another high-profile case, the press and public initially were allowed to listen remotely to court proceedings as pop star Britney Spears sought to end her father’s conservatorship over her finances. But Los Angeles County Superior Court canceled the remote access after someone recorded a hearing, and the court refused to reinstate it for a September hearing when Spears was freed from her father’s oversight. The court instead allowed more people into the courtroom.

USA Today recently asked the California Supreme Court to order the restoration of remote audio for the public and media.

“No one should have to risk their health to exercise their constitutional right of access by travelling to, and attending, court in person,” USA Today said in its court filing. It also suggested the remote audio program should continue “even when the pandemic ends.”

The California request highlights how the pandemic has shifted expectations about what qualifies as public access.

“As courts open back up, they should strongly consider keeping some amount of remote access available to the public,” said Lin Weeks, an attorney at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Many courts now are routinely using video conferencing in civil lawsuits, for bail proceedings in criminal cases and for family law disputes such as child-custody and divorce cases. Some also are using video conferencing to select jurors or to conduct entire jury trials.

Court officials say the virtual proceedings have saved time and money for attorneys, jurors, litigants and defendants, who no longer have to travel to a courthouse, take extensive time off work or arrange child care. Courts also have seen fewer no-shows among those summoned to virtual jury pools and, as a result, greater diversity on juries.

“It has been a lifeline as we’ve tried to keep the justice system moving during the pandemic, but it’s also been transformational,” said Sean O’Donnell, a superior court judge in King County, Washington, home of Seattle.

King County judges have conducted about 700 online trials, including about 50 with jurors. During a trial that O’Donnell presided over last week, the judge, attorneys, witness and jurors appeared on a 20-tile Zoom screen that the public could view on YouTube. Two jurors sat in clothes closets. One participated from his vehicle. Another was chided by O’Donnell to remove his cat from the camera view. A witness testified from Oregon, a couple hundred miles away.