Minnesota weighs more cameras in courts after Chauvin case
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota's court system could allow expanded camera coverage of criminal proceedings following the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer in George Floyd's death, under an order released Thursday.
“The time is right to consider whether the current requirements for audio and video coverage of criminal proceedings in courtrooms should be amended to accommodate broader public access,” Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea said in a statement announcing the order.
The order doesn't specifically cite Derek Chauvin's trial, but it was Minnesota's first criminal case in which gavel-to-gavel TV coverage was allowed, from jury selection through the verdict. Chauvin's sentencing Friday will also be televised.
University of Minnesota media law expert Jane Kirtley said the order is a good sign that the state court system will open up more proceedings to cameras and livestreaming technology. She said the coverage of Chauvin's trial went “extremely smoothly,” without the media circus some feared.
“I am more hopeful about revisions to this rule than I have been in 20 years,” Kirtley said.
The chief justice elaborated on her order in her annual State of the Judiciary speech to the Minnesota State Bar Association on Thursday, remarking on what she called the unprecedented decision to provide non-stop remote public access to one of the highest profile trials in the state’s history.
“I have seen it estimated that some 23 million people watched at least part of this livestreamed trial,” she said, according to a text provided by the court. ”While the decision to allow camera coverage of this trial was based on the unprecedented public health restrictions in place during the pandemic, it would be a mistake for us not to reflect on the lessons learned...