{"id":398,"date":"2019-05-26T23:21:39","date_gmt":"2019-05-27T03:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/?page_id=398"},"modified":"2025-05-12T11:15:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T15:15:27","slug":"new-lawsuit-challenges-maryland-ban-on-broadcasting-criminal-trial-recordings","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/our-press-releases\/new-lawsuit-challenges-maryland-ban-on-broadcasting-criminal-trial-recordings\/","title":{"rendered":"New Lawsuit Challenges Maryland Ban on Broadcasting Criminal Trial Recordings"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Greenbelt, MD] \u2014 A group of journalists and community organizations has filed a federal lawsuit<\/a> challenging a Maryland law that prohibits people from broadcasting recordings of criminal trial proceedings. \u00a0The lawsuit is the latest in an ongoing effort to oppose \u00a7\u00a01-201<\/a>\u00a0of Maryland\u2019s Code of Criminal Procedure.\u00a0 That provision makes it illegal to broadcast a recording of any criminal \u201ctrial, hearing, motion, or argument\u201d held in a trial court, including recordings that were lawfully obtained from court itself.<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs argue that \u00a7\u00a01-201 violates the First Amendment by barring them from disseminating accurate depictions of public court proceedings.\u00a0 Two of the plaintiffs, journalists Brandon Soderberg and Baynard Woods, hope to use trial recordings in future reporting and in an upcoming documentary about a now-defunct Baltimore police unit whose members were indicted on federal racketeering charges in 2017.\u00a0 Soderberg and Woods lawfully purchased trial recordings directly from the courthouse but are hesitant to use them in their film because of \u00a7\u00a01\u2011201\u2019s broadcasting ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing evidence of sworn police officers lying in court is in the public interest,\u201d said Soderberg. \u201cAnd the ability for the public to hear\u2014not only read about\u2014what happens in court will bring some much-needed transparency to Baltimore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that criminal justice reform isn\u2019t possible under the cloak of secrecy that currently covers what are supposed to be public proceedings,\u201d added Woods.\u00a0 \u201cA lack of transparency breeds corruption, as Baltimore knows all too well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other plaintiffs in the suit hope to use court recordings for different purposes.\u00a0 Open Justice Baltimore<\/a> and the Baltimore Action Legal Team<\/a>, two community organizations, want to use audio recordings from high-profile criminal trials to promote transparency within Baltimore\u2019s criminal justice system and to highlight structural deficiencies in that system.\u00a0 They hope to post the audio recordings on their websites, share them on social media, and play them at community events, like know-your-rights trainings.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot everyone has the time to visit a courtroom in the middle of the day to observe court proceedings,\u201d said the Baltimore Action Legal Team\u2019s Iman Freeman.\u00a0 \u201cHearing what happens in court can be both enlightening and startling.\u00a0 The ability to broadcast proceedings would be a powerful tool in showing the community what goes on in the criminal justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor far too long, the people of Baltimore have been subjected to gaslighting and misinformation by the media, police, and other public officials,\u201d said Open Justice Baltimore\u2019s Megan Kenny. \u201cThe ability to hear public proceedings without having to travel to a courthouse not only makes this information more accessible to those with mobility or financial constraints, it also allows the people to make their own informed decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legal fight is not limited to Baltimore.\u00a0 A Prince George\u2019s County organization called Life After Release is also challenging \u00a7\u00a01-201.\u00a0 The organization, which aims to promote accountability and transparency within the criminal justice system, wants to use courtroom audio to teach people how to advocate for friends and relatives facing criminal charges.\u00a0 The organization\u2019s founder, Qiana Johnson, hopes to share recordings from cases in which she has been invited to address the court as a community advocate on behalf of defendants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese recordings showcase the powerful impact of greater community participation in the justice system,\u201d said Johnson.\u00a0 \u201cWe should be allowed to use the recordings to tell that story\u2014especially when the recordings feature our own voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs in the suit are jointly represented by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.\u00a0 Before filing the suit, all of the plaintiffs had<\/a> sent<\/a> letters<\/a> to court officials asking them to identify any concrete harms that might result from the dissemination of trial recordings that the officials themselves had already made publicly available. \u00a0To date, court officials have not responded to any of those letters.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Maryland court officials have repeatedly considered holding members of the media in contempt for violating \u00a7 1-201. \u00a0In 2016, Baltimore court officials publicly rebuked the producers of Serial<\/em>, the popular investigative-reporting podcast, for playing excerpts of criminal trial proceedings on their show. \u00a0Last month, court officials warned another journalist, Amelia McDonell-Parry, that it would be unlawful for her to include courtroom audio on her podcast.<\/p>\n

The complaint<\/a> seeks a judicial declaration that \u00a7 1-201 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments and that the plaintiffs cannot be sanctioned for disseminating any lawfully obtained trial recordings.<\/p>\n

About the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP)<\/strong><\/p>\n

ICAP uses the power of the courts to defend American constitutional rights and values.\u00a0 Based at Georgetown Law Center, ICAP draws on expert litigators, savvy litigation strategy, and the constitutional scholarship of Georgetown to protect America\u2019s constitutional way of life.\u00a0 More information about ICAP can be found at https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/.<\/a><\/p>\n

About Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (MdVLA)<\/strong><\/p>\n

MdVLA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting Maryland artists\u2019 legal rights through access to pro bono legal services, referrals, and education.\u00a0 More information about MdVLA can be found at https:\/\/mdvla.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Greenbelt, MD] \u2014 A group of journalists and community organizations has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Maryland law that prohibits people from broadcasting recordings of criminal trial proceedings. \u00a0The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"parent":26,"menu_order":19,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"class_list":["post-398","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3111,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/398\/revisions\/3111"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}