Post by Bornthrilla on Mar 20, 2014 10:32:47 GMT -5
www.rhinotimes.com/courthouse-ban-not-just-for-cell-phones-anymore.html
Courthouse Ban Not Just
For Cell Phones Anymore
By SCOTT D. YOST
March 13, 2014
Guilford County court administrators and the Guilford County Security Department have expanded the cell phone ban at the county’s two courthouses to include nearly all electronic devices.
For instance, in addition to cell phones, cameras, computers and other electronic communication devices, the courthouse ban now includes cell phone chargers, Bluetooth headsets, earbuds, headphones, AM-FM radios, battery packs and other select electronic devices – whether or not they are communication devices.
An order signed by Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Lindsay Davis and Chief District Court Judge Wendy Enochs, which went into effect on Monday, Feb. 3, banned cell phones, computers, electronic tablets and other communication devices, but court goers can now add virtually all electronic items – with the apparent exception of hearing aides and watches – to the list of things that will not be allowed in.
Since some people have nowhere to put their phones when they realize they can’t be brought into the courthouse, they sometimes hide their phone in the bushes, bury it in the ground or simply leave it out near the courthouse entrance. Those people at least want to hang on to their chargers, headsets and other accessories when they go into the courthouse, but they aren’t being allowed to bring those items in. Like cell phones, those devices can be very expensive.
Guilford County officials, including the county attorney, the security director and the chairman of the Board of Commissioners, all said this week that the county has no say in the matter. They stated that the only thing the county can do is try to address the inconvenience to citizens by providing storage facilities for those entering the courthouse – something county officials are in the process of doing.
The State of North Carolina and the state’s counties – including Guilford County – have an unusual arrangement when it comes to the courthouses. The judges and court administrators, who are state employees, control the operation of the courts and make the rules, while the county owns the building and is responsible for cleaning and maintaining the facilities and providing security in the courthouse as well as on its perimeter and at the entrances.
Guilford County Security Director Jeff Fowler referred all questions on what is banned to Guilford County Trial Court Administrator Craig Turner. Fowler said that he and his staff were merely attempting to enforce the interpretation of the judges’ order that was conveyed to county security staff by Turner and other court administrators.
Guilford County Attorney Mark Payne also said it’s the court officials who decide what is and isn’t allowed into the county’s two courthouses.
“We’re the soldiers on the ground,” Payne said. “It’s out of our hands – it’s coming out of an order issued by the court.”
Guilford County Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Bill Bencini also said the county doesn’t get to make the call. He said the judges make the rules and he referred to an incident several years ago in which a judge, who was dissatisfied with the rate of repairs at the courthouse in Greensboro, issued a summons to all of the commissioners to appear in court, because the judge believed the county was negligent in its duty to maintain the courthouse.
“The last time there was a leak in the wall, they sued us,” Bencini said of the judges.
Now there is a great deal of confusion as to what can and can’t be brought into the courthouses, and in some cases, what can be brought in likely depends on which courthouse and what time of day someone attempts to enter.
The reason given for the ban of cell phones and cameras was for the security of judges, jurors and those testifying. There have been instances in which people in the courtroom attempted to take pictures of witnesses, jurors, judges or others during court proceedings. The judges fear the pictures will be used to identify people who will then be targeted by gang members or others. Some court cases involve undercover officers who also don’t want their pictures taken for obvious reasons.
When Turner was asked why the court was banning cell phone chargers, Bluetooth headsets and other phone or computer accessories, he wrote in an email, “It’s relatively simple. If there are no communication or electronic devices allowed within the courthouse without a permit, then there is no need for accessories to be brought in such as Bluetooth headphones, chargers, I-pods [sic] and their attachments.”
The Rhino Times asked Turner about AM-FM radios with headphones – which is an electronic device but not a communication device. He responded: “Fairly easy question to answer. People are in court to deal with court cases or legal problems or are seeking a fair resolution to a legal problem. It’s just another distraction and has nothing to do with the court but simply bogs down the system for 90 percent of the public who are there to conduct serious business with the court.”
When Turner was asked the rationale behind the ban of accessories even though those items weren’t mentioned in the judges’ order, he wrote, “I don’t want to belabor this issue any longer because I have far more important things to deal with as the trial court administrator. So let this be my last word on this subject because these same questions from the media day in and day out are becoming rather redundant and the same points have been covered over and over again.”
As far as the Rhino Times is aware, it has never been stated publically by anyone that chargers, Bluetooth accessories, earbuds and radios would be banned.
Turner added: “Before this ban, we had people constantly missing calendar calls, holding up the movement of court dockets and their own attorneys couldn’t find them in the courtroom or the courthouse because of their preoccupation with cell phones.”
He said an incident last year cemented the decision.
“The final straws came this late last summer when persons began literally sitting on the floors in the hallways kicking back and getting loud outside of the courtrooms, taking pictures and texting inside courtrooms, playing video games and music and shouting at people over phones and tablets after being asked to turn off these devices and people refusing to adhere to the bailiff and a judges’s [sic] directive to stop.
“Since a significant number of people refused to follow directions then unfortunately we had to take the extreme measure of revoking the privileges across the board.”
Turner suggested that the media come to the courthouse and observe and report on the behavior of people in the security entrance areas, which in part led to the ban, and spend less time on the court’s response to the problem.
He added, “That is where we stand and this is our policy. You will find very little difference between state courthouse and the federal courthouse rules now.”
Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing, after studying the situation at the county’s two courthouses for a month, announced at the Board of Commissioners Thursday, March 6 meeting that the county is going to purchase lockboxes, similar to those found in airports, which will allow visitors to the courthouse to store a phone or other device while they are in the courthouse.
At the meeting, Lawing told the commissioners that he and staff had been monitoring the situation, and he said that, on average, about 30 percent of people in line leave to take their phones and other devices back to their vehicles.
However, people who arrive by bus or are dropped off have no choice but to abandon their devices and accessories.
Lawing told the commissioners that there were multiple signs and warnings by security officers, as well as a recorded message that stated cell phones will not be allowed in the building, but people brought them all the way up to the security checkpoint anyway.
“I think we’ve probably reached the peak of the compliance,” he said.
Lawing said that, each day, “40 people, on average, make it all the way to the X-ray machine” with cell phones.
He added that, while the numbers of people attempting to bring their cell phones into court were going down at first, lately the number seems to have stabilized.
“We’re not seeing that decline as much as we thought we would,” Lawing said.
The ban doesn’t apply to county commissioners or high-ranking county employees who have a badge that lets them bypass courthouse security entirely. Those who work in the courthouse and attorneys who frequent it also have badges that allow them to enter without being checked. Jurors still have to pass through security but they can keep their phones if they present a jury summons to officers at the entrance.
Lawing said that it will cost about $7,000 to get storage lockers at the county’s two courthouses, and he told the commissioners that those funds were available. He said that the boxes, which will be at both the courthouse in Greensboro and in High Point, will be coin-operated and cost a quarter.
According to Lawing and Fowler, the boxes will be on a cart that can be wheeled in and out of the courthouse. Staff plans to put the cart out each morning and bring it inside at the end of the day, since some people end up leaving their phones at other times in the boxes.
While, ideally, courthouse visitors will gather their belongings when they leave, Fowler said there will inevitably be cases where people either forget to collect their belongings, lose the key or fail to retrieve their items for some other reason. In some cases, in fact, they may leave their belongings in the boxes because they were found guilty and hauled off to jail directly from the courtroom.
Courthouse Ban Not Just
For Cell Phones Anymore
By SCOTT D. YOST
March 13, 2014
Guilford County court administrators and the Guilford County Security Department have expanded the cell phone ban at the county’s two courthouses to include nearly all electronic devices.
For instance, in addition to cell phones, cameras, computers and other electronic communication devices, the courthouse ban now includes cell phone chargers, Bluetooth headsets, earbuds, headphones, AM-FM radios, battery packs and other select electronic devices – whether or not they are communication devices.
An order signed by Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Lindsay Davis and Chief District Court Judge Wendy Enochs, which went into effect on Monday, Feb. 3, banned cell phones, computers, electronic tablets and other communication devices, but court goers can now add virtually all electronic items – with the apparent exception of hearing aides and watches – to the list of things that will not be allowed in.
Since some people have nowhere to put their phones when they realize they can’t be brought into the courthouse, they sometimes hide their phone in the bushes, bury it in the ground or simply leave it out near the courthouse entrance. Those people at least want to hang on to their chargers, headsets and other accessories when they go into the courthouse, but they aren’t being allowed to bring those items in. Like cell phones, those devices can be very expensive.
Guilford County officials, including the county attorney, the security director and the chairman of the Board of Commissioners, all said this week that the county has no say in the matter. They stated that the only thing the county can do is try to address the inconvenience to citizens by providing storage facilities for those entering the courthouse – something county officials are in the process of doing.
The State of North Carolina and the state’s counties – including Guilford County – have an unusual arrangement when it comes to the courthouses. The judges and court administrators, who are state employees, control the operation of the courts and make the rules, while the county owns the building and is responsible for cleaning and maintaining the facilities and providing security in the courthouse as well as on its perimeter and at the entrances.
Guilford County Security Director Jeff Fowler referred all questions on what is banned to Guilford County Trial Court Administrator Craig Turner. Fowler said that he and his staff were merely attempting to enforce the interpretation of the judges’ order that was conveyed to county security staff by Turner and other court administrators.
Guilford County Attorney Mark Payne also said it’s the court officials who decide what is and isn’t allowed into the county’s two courthouses.
“We’re the soldiers on the ground,” Payne said. “It’s out of our hands – it’s coming out of an order issued by the court.”
Guilford County Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Bill Bencini also said the county doesn’t get to make the call. He said the judges make the rules and he referred to an incident several years ago in which a judge, who was dissatisfied with the rate of repairs at the courthouse in Greensboro, issued a summons to all of the commissioners to appear in court, because the judge believed the county was negligent in its duty to maintain the courthouse.
“The last time there was a leak in the wall, they sued us,” Bencini said of the judges.
Now there is a great deal of confusion as to what can and can’t be brought into the courthouses, and in some cases, what can be brought in likely depends on which courthouse and what time of day someone attempts to enter.
The reason given for the ban of cell phones and cameras was for the security of judges, jurors and those testifying. There have been instances in which people in the courtroom attempted to take pictures of witnesses, jurors, judges or others during court proceedings. The judges fear the pictures will be used to identify people who will then be targeted by gang members or others. Some court cases involve undercover officers who also don’t want their pictures taken for obvious reasons.
When Turner was asked why the court was banning cell phone chargers, Bluetooth headsets and other phone or computer accessories, he wrote in an email, “It’s relatively simple. If there are no communication or electronic devices allowed within the courthouse without a permit, then there is no need for accessories to be brought in such as Bluetooth headphones, chargers, I-pods [sic] and their attachments.”
The Rhino Times asked Turner about AM-FM radios with headphones – which is an electronic device but not a communication device. He responded: “Fairly easy question to answer. People are in court to deal with court cases or legal problems or are seeking a fair resolution to a legal problem. It’s just another distraction and has nothing to do with the court but simply bogs down the system for 90 percent of the public who are there to conduct serious business with the court.”
When Turner was asked the rationale behind the ban of accessories even though those items weren’t mentioned in the judges’ order, he wrote, “I don’t want to belabor this issue any longer because I have far more important things to deal with as the trial court administrator. So let this be my last word on this subject because these same questions from the media day in and day out are becoming rather redundant and the same points have been covered over and over again.”
As far as the Rhino Times is aware, it has never been stated publically by anyone that chargers, Bluetooth accessories, earbuds and radios would be banned.
Turner added: “Before this ban, we had people constantly missing calendar calls, holding up the movement of court dockets and their own attorneys couldn’t find them in the courtroom or the courthouse because of their preoccupation with cell phones.”
He said an incident last year cemented the decision.
“The final straws came this late last summer when persons began literally sitting on the floors in the hallways kicking back and getting loud outside of the courtrooms, taking pictures and texting inside courtrooms, playing video games and music and shouting at people over phones and tablets after being asked to turn off these devices and people refusing to adhere to the bailiff and a judges’s [sic] directive to stop.
“Since a significant number of people refused to follow directions then unfortunately we had to take the extreme measure of revoking the privileges across the board.”
Turner suggested that the media come to the courthouse and observe and report on the behavior of people in the security entrance areas, which in part led to the ban, and spend less time on the court’s response to the problem.
He added, “That is where we stand and this is our policy. You will find very little difference between state courthouse and the federal courthouse rules now.”
Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing, after studying the situation at the county’s two courthouses for a month, announced at the Board of Commissioners Thursday, March 6 meeting that the county is going to purchase lockboxes, similar to those found in airports, which will allow visitors to the courthouse to store a phone or other device while they are in the courthouse.
At the meeting, Lawing told the commissioners that he and staff had been monitoring the situation, and he said that, on average, about 30 percent of people in line leave to take their phones and other devices back to their vehicles.
However, people who arrive by bus or are dropped off have no choice but to abandon their devices and accessories.
Lawing told the commissioners that there were multiple signs and warnings by security officers, as well as a recorded message that stated cell phones will not be allowed in the building, but people brought them all the way up to the security checkpoint anyway.
“I think we’ve probably reached the peak of the compliance,” he said.
Lawing said that, each day, “40 people, on average, make it all the way to the X-ray machine” with cell phones.
He added that, while the numbers of people attempting to bring their cell phones into court were going down at first, lately the number seems to have stabilized.
“We’re not seeing that decline as much as we thought we would,” Lawing said.
The ban doesn’t apply to county commissioners or high-ranking county employees who have a badge that lets them bypass courthouse security entirely. Those who work in the courthouse and attorneys who frequent it also have badges that allow them to enter without being checked. Jurors still have to pass through security but they can keep their phones if they present a jury summons to officers at the entrance.
Lawing said that it will cost about $7,000 to get storage lockers at the county’s two courthouses, and he told the commissioners that those funds were available. He said that the boxes, which will be at both the courthouse in Greensboro and in High Point, will be coin-operated and cost a quarter.
According to Lawing and Fowler, the boxes will be on a cart that can be wheeled in and out of the courthouse. Staff plans to put the cart out each morning and bring it inside at the end of the day, since some people end up leaving their phones at other times in the boxes.
While, ideally, courthouse visitors will gather their belongings when they leave, Fowler said there will inevitably be cases where people either forget to collect their belongings, lose the key or fail to retrieve their items for some other reason. In some cases, in fact, they may leave their belongings in the boxes because they were found guilty and hauled off to jail directly from the courtroom.
