Timothy Smith - case continued

This morning's one-minute hearing in front of Judge Condon in the Timothy Smith first-degree murder case resulted is approval of a motion by the defense for a phone call for Smith and a continuance. For how long could not be clearly heard over the speaker connected to the courtroom.

The hearings for Smith are conducted in the jail's courtroom, sometimes referred to as bond court. The sheriff's department claimed a while back that it had heard rumors of threats against Smith and decided to request that the hearings be held in the jail court, where a window (presumably bullet-proof glass) "protects" the defendant, the lawyers, the judge, etc. Frankly, I am suspicious of the sheriff's department's claim of the suspected "rumor", and they've had plenty of time to investigate it. If they weren't able to confirm it and make an arrest, then Smith's case should be moved back to Judge Condon's courtroom in the government center.;

In court today Smith was accompanied by his public defender and monitored by a corrections officers and another officer dressed in a black, long-sleeved sweatshirt with the word "sheriff" on the sleeve. Maybe he was there to protect Smith from the Assistant State's Attorney, since there was no way that anyone in the visitors area could get at him, not that we intended to or wanted to.

As usual, visitors to the jail court are refused entry, unless they present identification and leave their coats, keys, phones, etc. in a locker in the jail's lobby. Each time I enter, I do so under protest. There is no reason whatsoever to require that. The courtroom is not in a secure area of the jail, just as the jail visiting area with the videoconferencing equipment is not in a secure area.

This requirement exceeds that in the government center, and today I shall file a protest with the Illinois Attorney General, the Illinois Supreme Court, the ARDC and the ACLU. The People need to stand up and squawk. Courtrooms are to be open to the public. You should be free to come and go without identifying yourself.