Court Security

Do court bans on electronic devices impede access to justice?

Courts of all types have banned cellphones in courtrooms. Some inform litigants of the ban before they show up, others don’t. Some offer lockers for storage, others don’t. Courts have cited different reasons for the bans, ranging from preventing disruption in the courtroom to protecting witnesses who could be photographed and potentially threatened for appearing.

Apr 1, 2019 2:00 AM CDT

County judge spots moving courtroom camera, finds sheriff zooming in on defense papers

A judge was alarmed Friday when a camera above the jury box in a San Juan County, Washington, courtroom began panning, tilting and zooming in on the jury box and counsel tables. Superior Court Judge Kathryn Loring noticed the movement of the normally stationary camera from a computer monitor near…

Feb 7, 2019 10:17 AM CST

Attorney charged with misdemeanor after carrying firearm into courthouse

A Pittsburgh defense attorney who brought a gun into the Allegheny County Courthouse on Tuesday will be charged with a third-degree misdemeanor. Komron Jon Maknoon, 47, owner of Maknoon & Associates, will be charged with carrying a firearm in a court facility after guards working the metal detectors discovered he…

Feb 6, 2019 2:42 PM CST

Nearly 70 ex-judges ask ICE to stop courthouse arrests; US attorney defends agency amid controversy

Nearly 70 former federal and state judges are asking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop making arrests at courthouses. The judges’ Dec. 12 letter asks ICE to add courthouses to its lists of sensitive locations where arrests are barred.

Dec 14, 2018 7:00 AM CST

See the video: Judge chases fleeing inmates, catches one before he escapes building

A judge in Washington state isn’t afraid to get involved when someone in his courtroom misbehaves.

Oct 24, 2018 3:32 PM CDT

The job is killing them: Family lawyers experience threats, violence

A series of surveys on violence against lawyers shows that family lawyers face disproportionate amounts of threats and violence compared to other lawyers. Almost all lawyers in the 27 states surveyed said they’d received some kind of threat or experienced violence. But the rate for family lawyers was higher.

Sep 1, 2018 1:10 AM CDT

ICE formalizes policy allowing courthouse arrests of targeted immigrants

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has formalized its policy authorizing courthouse arrests in specific circumstances of immigrants who are subject to deportation.

Feb 2, 2018 8:00 AM CST

ICE releases man arrested at courthouse after his DACA status expired

Updated: A Chicago-area man was released Thursday from immigration detention after his family and a local attorney argued that he was arrested in violation of local law, the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times have reported.

Feb 1, 2018 5:46 PM CST

War crimes defendant dies after drinking vial of what he called poison in international court

A convicted war criminal died at a hospital Wednesday after drinking from a vial he claimed to contain poison at a United Nations tribunal in The Hague. Slobodan Praljak, a former Bosnian Croat general, drank the liquid after the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia upheld his 20-year sentence,…

Nov 29, 2017 11:24 AM CST

Judge is shot outside courthouse; he and a probation officer fired back at the suspect

An Ohio judge is hospitalized after returning fire at the man who shot him Monday morning outside a courthouse in Steubenville.

Aug 21, 2017 2:06 PM CDT

Two states pass laws allowing some officials to bring guns inside courthouses

Two states have new laws on the books that allow some people to bring guns into courthouses. The new legislation in Arkansas and Oklahoma has brought the debate over the right to carry weapons "quite literally, at the courthouse door," the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports.

Jul 11, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

ABA condemns terrorist attacks aimed at judicial institutions in Afghanistan and Pakistan

The American Bar Association condemned recent terrorist attacks aimed at court systems in Afghanistan and Pakistan in a statement Wednesday written by ABA President Linda A. Klein. Two attacks in February—one on the Supreme Court of Afghanistan in Kabul and one on the District Court in Charsadda, Pakistan—were singled out…

Mar 1, 2017 9:52 AM CST

Should ABA speak out on Trump controversies? ABA president disagrees with ‘timidity’ criticism

The ABA is “a leading bulwark for the rule of law” that has not shied away from its support for that concept through the deliberative process of the ABA House of Delegates and in statements that can “constructively help,” according to ABA President Linda Klein. But the group is also…

Dec 19, 2016 3:45 PM CST

FBI investigates possible computer breach at Missouri courthouse

Updated: FBI agents removed computer equipment from the courthouse in Camden County, Missouri, this week as they worked with state officials to investigate a possible computer breach. County phone and computer systems have been shut down since Monday, and an outside company has been hired to investigate, the Lake Sun…

Sep 22, 2016 3:35 PM CDT

Suspended lawyer charged with carrying loaded gun into courthouse on day of his disbarment hearing

A Florida lawyer was arrested Thursday after the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said courthouse security found a loaded firearm in his backpack as he arrived for his disbarment hearing, the Tampa Bay Times reports. James Franklin Lowy, of Clearwater, did not have a concealed weapons permit and was charged with…

Sep 16, 2016 10:45 AM CDT