Judges consider court camera pass

The Chicago Tribune reports.

The seven-page order enacts a pilot programme that will allow cameras in the state's 23 circuit courts for the first time, but on a case-by-case basis to be determined by each circuit's chief judge and the trial judge.

According to News-Sun, chief justice Thomas Kilbride filed an order on Tuesday authorising the media to send cameras into the courtroom in an experimental programme.

“The idea behind this is simple. We need to have the courts be more open. By having the public keeping an eye on what is going on in the courtroom, it can act as a check in the balance of power,” Illinois Statehouse News quotes Kilbride as saying.

“If we don't have cameras in courtrooms, it's left up to shows like Law & Order to give the public an impression of what is going on in the judiciary,” he said.