Cameras in the courthouse?

On Tuesday the Northwest Herald editorial board opined that cameras in courtrooms ought to be allowed. It referred to the Illinois Supreme Court rule against them and described a pilot project in which certain courts are experimenting with allowing them.

Maybe the Northwest Herald ought to probe a little deeper and find out if the McHenry County Circuit Court embraced the idea and favored the pilot project. And, if it did, why it didn't rush to be included in the pilot project? What do our judges think about this?

How about a survey? List the names of the judges. Call everyone of them. Report the scorecard.

And ask if the McHenry County Circuit Court attempted to be included in the pilot project? Did it just not act quickly enough to apply? Or did it drag its heels, pondering such a weighty subject?

How in the world will reporters ever pick up audio recordings of testimony? It won't be too interesting just to watch the lips of a judge move. It will be nice to be able to hear and understand him. And the attorneys, too. And those who testify, too.

I used to think I was the only one who couldn't hear in the courtrooms. Then I started asking around, and I learned that others in the "audience" could not hear. Then one day a well-known Woodstock attorney spoke up from the lawyers' tables and told the judge that he couldn't hear. And then, on another day, another attorney said he couldn't hear. And one day, even a judge, after learning forward toward an attorney who was addressing him, told the attorney that he was going to have to speak up because he (the judge) couldn't hear him!

Now, back to cameras in the courthouse. Why does Sheriff Keith Nygren post signs at the courthouse entrances that prohibit cameras? It shouldn't be the cameras that are prohibited; it should be photography in the courtrooms (Supreme Court rule). Why can't a camera be carried into the public areas of the courthouse?

And, more importantly, why are cameras allowed every day into the courthouse? Is there a cell phone today that does not have a camera? Almost everyone these days walks right past the guards with their cellphone cameras. But the guards will require some with non-phone cameras to return to the parking lot and leave our "cameras" in our cars.

Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?