Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management

Guidelines for the Cameras Pilot Project in the District Courts

In September 2010, the Judicial Conference authorized a three-year pilot project to

evaluate the effect of cameras in district court courtrooms, video recordings of

proceedings therein, and publication of such video recordings by making them available

through www.uscourts.gov, as well as participating courts’ websites, if so desired. 

(JCUS-SEP 10, pp. 3-4). The pilot is national in scope, consisting of up to 150 individual

judges from districts chosen to participate by the Federal Judicial Center (FJC), in

consultation with the Court Administration and Case Management Committee (CACM).

At the Conference’s direction, the CACM Committee promulgated these

guidelines under which the pilot program must proceed. The Conference also authorized

this Committee to periodically amend the guidelines, as necessary, to assist the pilot

participants. 

The Conference also directed the CACM Committee to request that the FJC

conduct a study of the pilot, and the FJC will prepare interim reports after the first and

second years of the pilot.

1. General Provisions

a. Participating courts must abide by these guidelines as a condition for

participating in this pilot program. These guidelines will remain in effect

for the duration of the pilot, unless changed by the Conference or the

CACM Committee acting on its behalf.

b. Only courts participating in the pilot program may record court proceedings

for the purpose of public release.

c. The pilot is limited to civil proceedings in which the parties have consented

to recording. 

d. Courts participating in the pilot must amend their local rules (providing

adequate public notice and opportunity to comment) to provide an

exception to the Judicial Conference ban on recording for judges

participating in the pilot consistent with the guidelines.

e. It is not intended that a grant or denial of a request to record a proceeding

be subject to appellate review insofar as it pertains to and arises under these

guidelines, except as otherwise provided by law.
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f. Courts participating in the pilot will record or control the recording of

proceedings. Recordings by other entities or persons, unless hired by or

under the control of the court, are not allowed. 

g. Courts participating in the pilot program will be expected to cooperate with

the FJC and the CACM Committee in collecting study-specific data needed

by the FJC to evaluate the pilot project on behalf of the CACM Committee.

2. Selection of Cases for Video Recording

a. The presiding judge will select cases for participation in the pilot, although

parties to a case or the media may request video recording of the

proceedings. Participating judges should consider recording different types

of proceedings (e.g., trial and non-trial proceedings; a variety of case types; 

proceedings of varying sizes such as hearings, large cases, and multidistrict

litigation; and proceedings with varying levels of expressed public interest).

b. Under any circumstances, proceedings may not be recorded without the

approval of the presiding judge.

c. Parties must provide consent to the recording of each proceeding in a case. 

Consent to the recording of one proceeding in a case will not be construed

as consent to any other proceeding in a case. 

d. The court may 

(1) establish a procedure for obtaining party consent to the recording of

a proceeding selected for the pilot, including a time frame by which

consent must be given; and 

(2) in its discretion, hold a hearing to address objections by parties,

witnesses, or others to the recording or posting of a recording for

public access. Such hearings should not be recorded. 

e. Using forms provided by the FJC, courts should gather data on and report to

the FJC on the consent process, including which parties did not provide

consent and the reasons why they did not consent.
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3. Cameras and Equipment

a. Judges participating in the pilot should use the following equipment

configuration for recording proceedings: 

(1) Optimally, there should be at least three but no more than four

cameras with microphones to record the proceedings in the

courtroom. The cameras should be inconspicuous and fixed on the

judge, the witness, the lawyers’ podium, and/or counsel tables. 

(2) The security cameras in the courtroom should not be used to record

the proceedings for the pilot.

(3) There should also be a feed from the electronic evidence presentation

system. 

(4) The recording equipment should transmit the camera inputs to a

switcher that incorporates them onto one screen. The recording

equipment also should include an encoder to record the file for

posting. 

(5) The presiding judge should have a switch or be able to direct staff to

stop a recording if the judge deems it necessary. The pilot

recordings are not simulcast; thus, the judge can choose not to post

the video for public view.

b. The Administrative Office will develop technical guidelines for the digital

video recording equipment and will provide those guidelines to the courts

selected to participate in the pilot.

c. The Administrative Office is authorized to provide limited funding for

equipment as well as technical support to courts participating in the pilot. 

Participating courts are discouraged from purchasing new equipment. A

participating court is encouraged to use its existing recording equipment so

long as the equipment meets the requirements of the pilot. The court should

contact the Administrative Office’s Court Administration Policy Staff to

request assistance and/or online/distance training for court personnel to use

new or pre-existing equipment.

4. Managing the Recording
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a. A presiding judge may refuse, limit, or terminate the recording of an entire

case, portions thereof, or testimony of particular witnesses: in the interests

of justice; to protect the rights of the parties, and witnesses, and the dignity

of the court; to assure the orderly conduct of proceedings; or for any reason

considered necessary or appropriate by the presiding judge.

b. The following must not be recorded:

(1) Privileged communications between the parties and their attorneys,

non-public discussions between attorneys, and sidebar conversations

between attorneys and the presiding judge, without the express

permission of the judge.

(2) Jurors or alternate jurors while in the jury box, the courtroom, the

jury deliberation room, or during recess, or while going to or from

the deliberation room at any time. Coverage of the prospective jury

during voir dire is also prohibited.

c. The court should remind all persons present in the courtroom that a

recording is taking place, so as to limit noise, side conversation, and other

disturbances. 

d. Nothing in these guidelines will prevent a court from placing additional

restrictions, or prohibiting recording or broadcasting in designated areas of

the courthouse.

e. The court should help ensure that personal information covered by Fed. R.

Civ. P. 5.2 and the Judicial Conference privacy policy not be uploaded for

public view, including providing warnings to attorneys, parties, witnesses,

and jurors about disclosing confidential and personal information.

f. If security concerns arise, the judge might consider consulting with the

United States Marshals Service regarding the video recording of the judge.

5. Operating the Equipment

a. A court employee, such as a courtroom deputy, or a private contractor

controlled by the court, must control the recording equipment. The

Administrative Office will provide online/distance training to existing court

personnel on operating the recording equipment and handling the digital
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files. Courts are also encouraged to seek the assistance of court personnel

from other districts who have experience with the recording equipment.

b. In order to control the costs of the cameras pilot program, courts are

discouraged from contracting with a private vendor for purchasing,

installing, and operating the necessary equipment. If a court finds it

necessary to contract with a private vendor, such a vendor must be under

the authority and control of the court, including any recording activity, any

files created, and the posting of recordings for public access. Moreover, the

court should contact the Administrative Office’s Court Administration

Policy Staff for assistance in locating and contracting with the vendor. 

c. The media or its representatives will not be permitted to create recordings

of courtroom proceedings. 

6. Storage and Access to Recordings

a. It is preferable that recordings of proceedings should be broken down into

one- to four-hour increments (shorter time-frames are preferable due to the

size of these digital files), but only as resources and equipment permit. 

Unless the presiding judge deems otherwise, recordings of court

proceedings should be made publicly available within a few hours. 

Recordings should be made according to the following procedures:

(1) Recordings of court proceedings will be stored on a national server

(www.uscourts.gov) to prevent burdening the operations of local

court automation systems and to provide data to the FJC for the

required study. Courts may also maintain a link to their recordings

on their public website. Regardless of how the link is accessed, all

access will be tracked on the judiciary’s video hosting service.

(2) The judiciary’s video hosting service will provide a unique, stable

URL for use on www.uscourts.gov and on a court’s own website.

b. The Administrative Office will prepare an educational instructional video to

assist the courtroom deputy and court staff regarding publishing the file.

c. The court should be mindful of protecting sensitive and private information

and of Judicial Conference requirements regarding transcripts in civil
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proceedings. The court may wish to consider creating a procedure by

which the parties may request that the recording, or a portion thereof, not be

made publicly accessible due to privacy concerns.

d. In the event that the presiding judge decides not to make the recording

publicly available, the judge must document, using the forms provided by

the FJC, the reasons for the decision and send that information to the FJC. 

e. The decision to upload the recording is final, and the recording will

automatically be made available to the public through a national server

(www.uscourts.gov) and, at the court’s discretion, through a link on its

public website.

f. The digital recordings emanating from the pilot (as well as any transcripts

made from the recordings) are not the official record of the proceedings,

and should not be used as exhibits or part of any court filing.

g. The court may wish to designate certain court personnel to coordinate

media questions, and confer with the Administrative Office’s Office of

Public Affairs in handling those requests.