{"id":243,"date":"2023-01-26T17:06:14","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T22:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/maryland\/press-releases\/transparency-advocates-endorse-court-access-bills-in-maryland-senate\/"},"modified":"2023-01-26T17:06:14","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T22:06:14","slug":"transparency-advocates-endorse-court-access-bills-in-maryland-senate","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/maryland\/press\/transparency-advocates-endorse-court-access-bills-in-maryland-senate\/","title":{"rendered":"Transparency Advocates Endorse Court Access Bills in Maryland Senate"},"template":"","class_list":["post-243","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"\"Virtual court access ensures that the public has safe, meaningful, affordable opportunities to observe our legal system at work,\u201d said Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland.","featured_image":"","press_type":145,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":7852}"],"related_issues":[84,88,90,444],"related_work":false,"location":23},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"
Yesterday in the Maryland House and Senate, transparency advocates testified in support of bills related to remote public access to court proceedings.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n
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Joanne Antoine of Common Cause Maryland and Dr. Carmen Johnson, founder of Helping Ourselves to Transform and director of Court Watch PG, a volunteer group powered by Life After Release, spoke to lawmakers about the importance of public remote audio-visual access to all court proceedings not deemed closed, confidential, or restricted by law.<\/span><\/div>\r\n
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\u201cIn the wake of a global pandemic, it is the duty of lawmakers to consider virtual access to the courts,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Qiana Johnson, executive director of Life After Release.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cIf the state of Florida can recognize this, so can we.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n
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\u201cVirtual court access ensures that the public has safe, meaningful, affordable opportunities to observe our legal system at work,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWhile courts are technically 'open' to the public, challenges associated with participation are a barrier to entry that disproportionately affects low-income communities. Virtual access to the courts not only ensures that loved ones can be present to support defendants, victims, and witnesses in their proceedings, but will also likely foster more active civic engagement in the public as a whole.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\r\n
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\u201cIn 2015, I found myself sitting in an empty courtroom in the state of Maryland being tried for crimes I did not commit. I can only say that if there was remote access in that courtroom, I would not have been found guilty,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Dr. Carmen Johnson, founder of Helping Ourselves to Transform and the director of Court Watch and Judicial Accountability.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI would like for everyone to understand that what happened to me could happen to you. This is why it is imperative that we have accountability and most importantly transparency in the court rooms\u00a0<\/span>\u2014<\/strong>\u00a0because injustice happens in empty courtrooms.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n
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In written testimony submitted to the Maryland legislature in support of this legislation,\u00a0<\/span>Fiona Apple<\/strong>, a musician and frequent court watcher in Prince County, wrote: \u201cThis legislation would make Maryland leaders on the way to a more just, transparent, and accountable system that will protect the trust of the public you are meant to serve. It is constitutional, it is available, and it is the right thing to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n
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More information on the benefits of remote access to courts is available\u00a0<\/span>here.<\/a><\/div>"}}]},"yoast_head":"\nTransparency Advocates Endorse Court Access Bills in Maryland Senate - Common Cause Maryland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/maryland\/press-releases\/transparency-advocates-endorse-court-access-bills-in-maryland-senate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Transparency Advocates Endorse Court Access Bills in Maryland Senate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/maryland\/press\/transparency-advocates-endorse-court-access-bills-in-maryland-senate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Maryland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/maryland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/maryland\/press-releases\/transparency-advocates-endorse-court-access-bills-in-maryland-senate\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/maryland\/press-releases\/transparency-advocates-endorse-court-access-bills-in-maryland-senate\/\",\"name\":\"Transparency Advocates Endorse Court Access Bills in Maryland Senate - 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