Seven court proceedings from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio are now available online as part of a federal cameras in the courtroom pilot program.

Seven court proceedings from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio are now available online as part of a federal cameras in the courtroom pilot program.

Eighteen months after the federal Judiciary began its cameras in the courtroom pilot program, seven court proceedings are available online for public viewing from one of the two Ohio courts participating. The seven cases recorded at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio each include case summaries, a video clip that encompasses the entire proceeding, and a series of shorter clips for individual parts of the proceeding.

Fourteen courts volunteered for the pilot and were selected by the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management (CACM) in consultation with the Federal Judicial Center, which is studying the three-year pilot.

Participating courts follow guidelines endorsed by the Judicial Conference. The courts record the proceedings themselves; proceedings may not be recorded without the approval of the presiding judge and the parties in the case. The pilot includes only civil cases; photographing or broadcasting criminal proceedings in federal courts has been prohibited under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53 since 1946.

The federal Judicial Conference has authorized each appellate court to decide whether to permit broadcasting of oral arguments. Two circuit courts of appeal – the Second and the Ninth – allow such coverage.

The Judicial Conference cameras pilot project is designed to evaluate the effect of cameras in district court courtrooms, video recordings of proceedings, and publication of such video recordings.

In contrast to the federal courts, Rule 12 of the Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio permits cameras in Ohio courtrooms subject to the discretion of the presiding judge. The rule has been in place in Ohio since at least 1973.

Since March 2004, video of every case argued before the Ohio Supreme Court has been recorded and archived for viewing. Visit this site to access past oral arguments: http://supremecourtofohiomedialibrary.org/MediaSearchResults.aspx.

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