Citing viewpoint discrimination, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Los Angeles County Superior Court illegally barred filmmakers access to a courtroom to film scenes from of a documentary on judicial corruption. (Judicial Watch, August 4, 2014, press release)
In the 3-0 finding, the court agreed that the Los Angeles Superior Court denied access because of the nature of the documentary, “The empty courtroom that the plaintiffs sought to access to film their documentary is either a nonpublic forum or a limited public forum. Either way, speech restrictions are impermissible unless they are reasonable in light of the purposes served by the forum and viewpoint neutral.” (Courthouse News Service, August 6, 2014, by Tim Hull)