SJC Strikes Down Objections To Court Recordings

07:10

March 14, 2012

The SJC ruled Wednesday in favor of OpenCourt's ability to video record, stream and archive public court proceedings from the Quincy District Court.

There was an important ruling Wednesday from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in favor of a case involving this station — WBUR. At issue was the station's OpenCourt project — an online experiment to make Quincy District Court more accessible to the public. The idea: anyone with an internet connection can see and hear what goes on in the court.

But in two separate cases, attorneys objected to WBUR's archiving audio recording of the court proceedings and eventually the matter went all the way to the state's highest court. Today, the SJC ruled in favor of WBUR.

We take a closer look.

Guest:

Jeff Hermes, director, Digital Media Law Project at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and advisory board member for the Open Court Project.

More from WBUR:

Supreme Judicial Court Rules in Favor of OpenCourt

This segment aired on March 14, 2012.