ACLU Advocates for Open Courtrooms in Sedgwick County
In mid-March 2014, the ACLU’s Legal Department received reports that the traffic courtroom at the Sedgwick County Courthouse in Wichita, Kansas, was closed to the public. Legal Director Doug Bonney investigated these reports and found the following:
- A sign posted on the door of the traffic courtroom on the fifth floor of the Sedgwick County Courthouse read in pertinent part “Family and friends here for moral support- Please wait in the hallway.”
- The door to that courtroom had large windows, but those windows had been covered over with paper so that people in the hallway could not see into the courtroom.
- When members of the public – including family and friends of defendants – tried to enter the courtroom, courthouse security officers advised them that they were not permitted to enter the courtroom and were instead required to remain in the hallway.
- In mid-March, one witness observed security officers directing members of the public to remain in the hallway even when there were plenty of seats available inside the courtroom. Other reports indicated that this was a common practice.
Under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, criminal defendants have a right to a public trial. Under the First Amendment, furthermore, the public and the press have a right to attend court proceedings and to review court files. Open courts enhance public trust in the administration of justice in a democratic society. As the Supreme Court held thirty years ago, “[t]he value of openness lies in the fact that people not actually attending trials can have confidence that standards of fairness are being observed; the sure knowledge that anyone is free to attend gives assurance that established procedures are being followed and that deviations will become known. Openness thus enhances both the basic fairness of the criminal trial and the appearance of fairness so essential to public confidence in the system.” Press Enterprise v. Superior Court (“Press Enterprise I”), 464 U.S. 501, 508 (1984).
On March 24, 2014, Legal Director Bonney sent a letter of concern to Chief Judge James Fleetwood regarding the reports that the traffic courtroom in the Sedgwick County was closed to the public. On April 17, 2014, the ACLU received Chief Judge Fleetwood’s reply in which he confirmed that the sign and window coverings have been taken down and that the traffic courtroom in the Sedgwick County Courthouse is now be open to the public unless the docket is so heavy that there is simply no room for spectators.
The ACLU of Kansas thanks Chief Judge Fleetwood for his prompt attention to this issue and for assuring that the courtrooms in Sedgwick County are open.