Cook County Courts Start Electronics Ban
By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 15, 2013 5:00PM
After a three-month delay, the Circuit Court of Cook County began phasing in a ban on cellphones and other electronic devices in the Leighton Criminal Court building at 26th Street and California Avenue. The ban was originally intended to go into effect in January but Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans delayed it after critics voiced opposition. The Tribune reports other county officials were caught by surprise by the order and asked for a grace period to address a shortage of kiosks for cellphone storage.
Evans said the ban is a response to repeated use of electronic devices in courtrooms by bystanders, many of them believed to be enforcing a “no snitch” code on witnesses in trials. “Intimidation will not be tolerated,” Evans said in a press release last week and added that, if he had his way, the ban would roll out in all 13 county courthouses immediately.
”I wish it were possible to just say to the people coming to court, ‘Please turn off your phones and devices.’ The simple fact is we have tried that, and it does not work. People either ignore or refuse to comply with the judges’ directions; and the Sheriff’s staff has confirmed that their deputies cannot prevent the misuse of these devices in the courtrooms.”
The ban does allow for some exceptions. A lot, actually, with required identifications, credentials and authorization as determined by the Cook County Sheriff’s office.
• persons with disabilities, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, who require electronic devices for effective communication;
• current or former judges;
• licensed attorneys;
• members of the news media;
• local, state, and federal law enforcement officers;
• employees of any local, state, or federal government agencies or offices;
• any person reporting for jury duty pursuant to summons;
• building and maintenance tradespeople, equipment repairpersons, and vendors;
• domestic violence advocates and counselors as defined by 750 ILCS 60/227(a)(2);
• authorized employees and agents of attorneys;
• any person or category of persons pursuant to order of court;
• persons who are present at the courthouse to obtain civil orders of protection, stalking no contact orders, or civil no contact orders or parties to a proceeding who are present at the courthouse to attend a proceeding related to an underlying order of protection, stalking no contact order, civil no contact order or other related proceedings;
• participants in a domestic violence assistance program;
• persons required by court order or the sheriff to wear an electronic monitoring device; and
• parties to orders of protection who are required to carry GPS devices.
Anyone else will be asked to return their cellphones or other devices to their vehicles or, if they took public transit to the courthouse, store them in a storage vending machine provided by the county.