FAC leads Amicus brief urging CA Supreme Ct to require public access in commitment hearings
When a county tries to commit a person, against his will, to a psychiatric facility, may that judicial proceeding–which involves lawyers, a judge and a jury trial—be held behind closed doors, with no access at all for the press and public? A California appellate court recently held that such proceedings not only may be secret, but must be secret. The First Amendment Coalition has organized an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to review the