Journalists offered tips for covering courts during pandemic

Just in time for Sunshine Week, which began Sunday, here's some advice for reporters on how to cover courts during the pandemic.

Over the past year, courts have made many changes meant to keep people safe and keep court cases moving. Some of those changes, like barring extraneous attendees or holding hearings via phone or video conference, have made it more difficult for reporters to cover court cases.

"As more U.S. courts introduce such changes — and some courts expand these initiatives — journalists need to understand how they will influence legal processes and affect criminal defendants’ civil rights," Denise-Marie Ordway reports for The Journalist's Resource. "We asked experts at the National Center for State Courts, an independent research organization focused on the state judiciary, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, an organization aimed at correcting flaws and inequities in the criminal justice system, what journalists should know and do when covering these issues."

The article has six broad, well-researched tips for journalists, each with plenty of supporting evidence and background information. For example, they advise journalists to "examine how the pandemic has affected jury selection." Some jurisdictions have had trouble getting residents to show up for jury duty during the pandemic, which legal experts worry has affected jury composition. Read more here.