You can now watch Stanislaus court hearings on YouTube, but in-person access is limited
If you go to the Stanislaus County Courthouse on 11th street in Modesto, expect a bailiff to ask why you’re there.
The court took the step on Tuesday to limit access to only those with official business in the courthouse, such as defendants, attorneys, jurors and subpoenaed witnesses, in order to better protect against the coronavirus as cases again surge.
“Despite the fact that we spent a lot of time and money and effort to put in equipment and procedures to reduce the numbers and make the courthouse safer ... social distancing still was an issue we were having difficulty controlling,” court Executive Officer Hugh Swift said Tuesday.
Since March, emergency orders either issued or approved by California’s chief justice have allowed for extended time limits on most court hearings and jury trials were temporarily suspended.
The Stanislaus courthouse population was reduced drastically for several months, but when jury trials resumed in July and other hearings that had been continued were being held again, the courthouse on occasion was reaching the maximum capacity that it implemented of 250 people.
Swift said even on most days where capacity isn’t reached, social distancing still isn’t being observed and people routinely are removing or improperly wearing face coverings while inside.
He said jurors and attorneys who are required to be in the courthouse have expressed concern to him about this.
By limiting access to only people required to be there, Swift hopes that some of those issues will be eased.
“The idea is not to make this a permanent order,” he said. “As the governor talked about in the press conference yesterday, it really looks like there’s going to be a big surge (in COVID-19 cases) over the next 30 days, and that’s really the period of time that we are very concerned about. We want to make sure, to the extent possible, that we can keep everyone in the courthouse safe.”
Most hearings are open to the public, and supporters of both defendants and victims will often attend. Some high-profile cases draw large crowds from the media as well as the general public.
To ensure access to hearings, the court has set up live streams on YouTube for all of the courtrooms that hear criminal matters. People who want to attend in person can also submit a request to the judge.
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 12:55 PM.
