N.Y. governor proposes measure to restore courtroom cameras

The Associated Press

03.17.00

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ALBANY, N.Y. — After the widely praised coverage of the Amadou Diallo trial in Albany, Gov. George Pataki says cameras should be allowed in New York's courtrooms statewide for two years.

"As demonstrated by the recent Diallo trial, appropriate, televised coverage of courtroom proceedings provides undeniable benefits to the people of our state," Pataki said yesterday.

New York's most recent experiment with allowing cameras into courtrooms expired in 1997. State Assembly Democrats in particular said they wanted to rethink the law in light of the media frenzy and courtroom excesses accompanying telecasts of the O.J. Simpson trial in California.

But several New York judges have opened their courtrooms to cameras after a judge in Albany ruled during the Diallo trial that the state's law banning cameras in courtrooms was unconstitutional.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver praised Pataki's plan. "I believe it addresses most of my concerns," he said. "I will work with the governor and the Senate to negotiate a law that can reinstate cameras in our courtrooms with careful monitoring."

In addition to allowing cameras statewide, Pataki said his bill would provide increased protection for children and abuse victims. In those cases, a judge would have to bar television coverage unless the benefits of camera coverage substantially outweigh the risks, Pataki said.

Non-party witnesses in criminal and Family Court proceedings would also be able to exclude themselves from coverage or choose to have their images rendered unrecognizable.

The bill, if approved by the Legislature, would take effect immediately and would remain in force until June 2002.