The media is bound by strict laws which prevent us from naming young people who appear in court. We take great pains to follow this law and, in fact, have never received a complaint in this regard. Instead of receiving the information we need, we've been told that sitting through court proceedings will provide us with that data. The Chronicle has a reporter in court on every court date and we know from experience that charges are not always clearly read into the record. We are not lawyers and this is not information about which we do not wish to speculate.
Court is open to the public.
Of course, we realize this means more people will recognize the young people being tried for criminal activities. This will, in turn, lead to more gossip and more names being bandied about our streets, coffee shops and schools. Certainly not the accused and certainly not the public.