34 U.S.C. § 20142 — Closed circuit televised court proceedings for victims of crime
submitted 30 years ago by Pub. L. 104-132 to r/title-34-CRIME-CONTROL-AND-LAW-ENFORCEMENT · 470 words · no verdicts yet
If a trial's venue moves over 350 miles out of state, the court must closed-circuit televise it. This lets victims who cannot otherwise attend watch the trial. Only the court controls the broadcast, and it cannot be shown publicly or shared.
(a) In general. Despite anything in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, if a criminal trial's venue is moved (1) out of the state where the case was first brought, and (2) more than 350 miles from where the trial would have originally happened, the trial court must order the proceedings closed-circuit televised to that original location. This lets people the court decides have a compelling interest watch, if they cannot otherwise attend because the venue change is too inconvenient or expensive.
(b) Limited access. (1) Generally, only official court and security personnel, or people the court specifically names, may watch the closed-circuit broadcast. (2) The court cannot name someone under (1) if the trial judge decides that person's own testimony would be affected by hearing other testimony at the trial.
(c) Restrictions. (1) The court must control the broadcast signal at all times, and it may only be sent under conditions the court sets. (2) The signal cannot be publicly broadcast or shared further. If any tapes are made while doing this, the court owns them and must keep them sealed. (3) Violating this subsection, or any related court rule or order, is punishable as contempt of court under section 402 of title 18.
(d) Donations. The Administrative Office of the United States Courts may accept donations to help courts carry out subsection (a).
(e) Construction. Nothing in this section (i) creates a right to sue the United States or its officers or employees; or (ii) gives anyone a legal defense in a case where this section applies.
(f) 'State' defined. In this section, 'State' means any state, the District of Columbia, or any U.S. possession or territory.
(g) Rules. The Judicial Conference of the United States, under its rulemaking power in section 331 of title 28, may issue or amend rules to carry out this section's policy. Once those rules take effect, this section stops applying.
(h) Effective date. This section only applies to cases filed after January 1, 1995.
Notwithstanding any provision of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to the contrary, in order to permit victims of crime to watch criminal trial proceedings in cases where the venue of the trial is changed—
out of the State in which the case was initially brought; and
more than 350 miles from the location in which those proceedings originally would have taken place;
the trial court shall order closed circuit televising of the proceedings to that location, for viewing by such persons the court determines have a compelling interest in doing so and are otherwise unable to do so by reason of the inconvenience and expense caused by the change of venue.
No other person, other than official court and security personnel, or other persons specifically designated by the court, shall be permitted to view the closed circuit televising of the proceedings.
The court shall not designate a person under paragraph (1) if the presiding judge at the trial determines that testimony by that person would be materially affected if that person heard other testimony at the trial.
The signal transmitted pursuant to subsection (a) shall be under the control of the court at all times and shall only be transmitted subject to the terms and conditions imposed by the court.
No public broadcast or dissemination shall be made of the signal transmitted pursuant to subsection (a). In the event any tapes are produced in carrying out subsection (a), such tapes shall be the property of the court and kept under seal.
Any violations of this subsection, or any rule or order made pursuant to this section, shall be punishable as contempt of court as described in section 402 of title 18.
The Administrative Office of the United States Courts may accept donations to enable the courts to carry out subsection (a).
1 Nothing in this section shall be construed—
to create in favor of any person a cause of action against the United States or any officer or employees thereof, or
to provide any person with a defense in any action in which application of this section is made.
As used in this section, the term “State” means any State, the District of Columbia, or any possession or territory of the United States.
The Judicial Conference of the United States, pursuant to its rule making authority under section 331 of title 28, may promulgate and issue rules, or amend existing rules, to effectuate the policy addressed by this section. Upon the implementation of such rules, this section shall cease to be effective.
This section shall only apply to cases filed after January 1, 1995.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 104–132, title II, § 235, Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1246.)
- 1996Enacted · Pub. L. 104-132 · 110 Stat. 1246
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 104-132 on 1996-04-24.
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