SACRAMENTO - Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (D-East Los Angeles) is urging the Judicial Council of California to adopt new rules protecting public access to courtrooms in response to a recent incident in Yolo County in which the public was locked out.
On June 18, Yolo County courtroom deputies locked the public out of a courtroom before the arraignment of a defendant charged with murdering a sheriff's deputy. The deputies gave special access to other law enforcement officers to the courtroom through a separate, secured door.
The California Supreme Court, upholding the constitutional right to public trials, has held that a judge may close a courtroom only under very limited circumstances and after making specified findings on the record in open court.
"The recent incident in Yolo County is a shocking reminder of how easily these constitutional rights can be violated," Romero said. "Open, public courts are a cornerstone of our system of justice."
In the next few months, the Judicial Council is expected to adopt new rules requiring the presiding judge and sheriff of every California county to present a security plan, outlining how sheriff's deputies will secure courtrooms.
"Sheriff's deputies must provide bailiff and security services to county courts in a manner that protects the constitutional right of defendants to a public trial and the right of the public to attend court proceedings," Romero continued. "The Judicial Council's pending rulemaking on courtroom security provides an ideal opportunity to be proactive and ensure that courtrooms throughout California are open to the public."
