Do closed circuit court appearances prejudice defendants?
Have you ever watched "video court" in the judge's courtroom where he or she is staring at a computer screen or television and making decisions about defendants' lives? I have, and my perception is that the judges take less time with each defendant, and are less likely to view them as human and act with compassion. Here's one judge's take on the subject:
The Columbus Dispatch : Video blunts impact, judges say: "The woman's blank stare worried Union County Common Pleas Judge Don Fraser.
He was about to send her to prison for a fairly long time on a probation violation, yet she showed no emotion. He wondered whether her distance made the difference. She was participating in the proceedings via video link between the county jail and Fraser's courtroom, about 16 miles away.
'I found myself wondering if, maybe, that young woman shouldn't be here looking me in the eye,' the judge recalled. 'At that moment, it struck me as so impersonal that I made up my mind I wasn't going to do it anymore.'
And as quick as that, the man who took over the bench in February after longtime Judge Richard Parrott retired ended the practice of video hearings that Parrott had long embraced.
Fraser said he will continue to use the video hookups that allow prisoners to stay at the Multi-County Jail for their initial appearance because arraignments are routine, with little room for conversation.
For everything else, he has decided he wants to see the defendant in person.
As technology advances, budgets for transporting prisoners shrink and courtroom security draws greater scrutiny, the potential of remote hearings is debated more often.
The Franklin County Common Pleas Court has considered the practice for years but still doesn't use it. Some of the judges are wild about the idea while others hate it, said Judge John P. Bessey, who led a committee that studied the possibility of such a system.
Bessey said that, like Fraser, he would never use a video system for matters other than an arraignment, but it makes perfect sense in those initial appearances.
At arraignments, the judge takes care of routine matters, such as setting bail and inquiring about a lawyer. Bessey said he timed an arraignment once and it took 90 seconds.
There is little reason, then, that the sheriff and the court should have to pay for and deal with the security issues that surround the shackling of 20 or 25 inmates at a time each day and herding them to a courtroom, he said.
He hopes Franklin County will embrace a video system once the new courthouse opens, if not sooner."
If budget is the main concern (not security), and efficiency rules the day, then we have truly lost our way as a nation of justice. If you are accused of a crime you are entitled to YOUR DAY IN COURT. That should mean something, right? After all, it is not "you are entitled to a quick Skype chat with some dude in a black robe who has the power to remotely sentence you to jail.
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