Blagojevich Judge May Offer Jurors "No Trespassing" Signs

By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 25, 2011 5:52PM

Judge James Zagel has suggested having "No Trespassing" signs bought for jurors so that the media cannot bother them after the Rod Blagojevich retrial is completed. The off-the-cuff remark was made yesterday during a hearing in which Zagel heard arguments from media about the restrictions he's put in place regarding juror identities and access to jurors.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press executive director Lucy Dalglish said she found the suggestions troubling because of the message it would send to jurors. Zagel countered that he was equally troubled by reports of media hounding jurors immediately after the first trial. These include a helicopter hovering over one juror's home and a complaint from another juror that one reporter rang the doorbell every half-hour.

Calling the media "rapacious," Zagel is considering concealing the identities of the jury in the Blago retrial for up to eight hours, maybe more, once the trial concludes.