CAJ live events

Reporting from the courtroom

From the Rob Ford investigation to covering kids who commit crimes, the courts can be a treasure trove of information for journalists – ITOs, transcripts, and exhibits. But they can also be confusing to navigate, and even intimidating. This session will offer some tips and tricks for accessing the courts, including making your own applications for exhibits and arguing in front of a judge without a lawyer.#CAJ15court

3rd & 7 37yd

Beginning with introductions from Blair Rhodes

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:06:06 PM
Blair Rhodes – Reporting from the courtroom
Blair has been a journalist for more than 30 years, after graduating from Carleton University with a BJ (Honours). For the last 25 years, he has worked for CBC in Nova Scotia, first with Newsworld (as it was then called) and now with the local CBC newsroom. For the last seven years, he has been a reporter focussing on stories involving crime and public safety.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:07:38 PM
Rhodes began by talking about the Jennifer Horne story http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/maguire-pleads-guilty-to-horne-murder-1.872246

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:13:56 PM
The Parsons case showed the challenges of working with youth courts.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/rehtaeh-parsons-case-father-of-man-convicted-questioned-in-wikipedia-probe-1.2974960

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:17:27 PM
David Bruser – Public service journalism in a changing media landscape
Since the joining the Toronto Star’s Investigations team in 2007, David has reported on bad charities, unsafe workplaces, lead in toys, gun violence, soldiers who return from war and become criminals, children and seniors suffering serious side effects while taking popular prescription drugs, and police officers who lie in court. David’s stories have led to charity license revocations, the largest product recall in Canadian history and changes in the law. He has won three National Newspaper Awards in the category of Investigations.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:17:36 PM
Rhodes: Provincial prosecutors are not as bad to work with as federal
prosecutors.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:19:20 PM
youth court is so secret that in Ontario the initials are used. In other provinces not even the initials of the youth.

by lope0820 6/6/2015 7:23:56 PM
People find youth court not sexy because no one wants to report on anonymous sources says Bruser

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:24:58 PM
so much of court is not full

by lope0820 6/6/2015 7:26:09 PM
Certain details are not revealed unless you sit through the entire case.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:26:58 PM
Question time

by lope0820 6/6/2015 7:27:49 PM
Rhodes and Bruser on courts.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:28:24 PM
"There is an assumption that journalists cannot be trusted to use information carefully"

by lope0820 6/6/2015 7:30:04 PM
The courts hired a witness to discredit Bruser

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:30:17 PM
"
how do you find out where a youth offender is if you need to get a hold of them?"

by lope0820 6/6/2015 7:32:03 PM
Rhodes: Nova Scotia its pretty easy with the limited youth centers

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:32:57 PM
Youth cases often involve many aspects that the public pays for yet the courts won't appear open in this seemingly "public" information.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:34:53 PM
in youth court context: the public pays for everything that is used in the process of sentencing a youth offender. So why is the public denied the information?

by lope0820 6/6/2015 7:35:00 PM
Rhodes: 50 % of court reporting is not in the courtroom..it's in the periphery.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:35:50 PM
The conversation changes to Christopher Phillips story. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/christopher-phillips-chemical-scare-trial-hears-from-wife-1.3099903

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:37:05 PM
ITO's aren't supposed to be permanently sealed. You need to fight to make them public/ released.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:38:54 PM
Rhodes:
You don't want a criminal lawyer, media lawyers are most useful for these situations.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:40:09 PM
Sometimes judges are wrong in their decisions. Bruser talks about a case where a youth was sentenced as an adult, allowing the name to be released -- despite the judges initial disagreement.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:42:23 PM
many judges do not know (or choose to ignore) the law and make wrongful decisions regarding youth cases

by lope0820 6/6/2015 7:43:56 PM
Q:
Tips for finding good court stories?

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:44:28 PM
Rhodes: Stick around.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:44:56 PM
Bruser: There's so much going on, if you have time sit in court for a couple days.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:46:01 PM
Q: What if your not in the court everyday?

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:46:46 PM
Bruser: Keyword searches in CanLII https://www.canlii.org/en/

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:48:12 PM
Ad IDEM is a good web resource for media law. http://www.adidem.org/Main_Page

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:50:19 PM
Rhodes: There are times when journalists need to tell judges that they are wrong about the media law.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:51:25 PM
Q: Your experience with quasi- judicial systems?

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:55:18 PM
A: secretive, no transparency.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:55:50 PM
it is harder than the courts

by lope0820 6/6/2015 7:56:11 PM
Take away message:
Be persistent, dont assume they know more than you. Be prepared to fight and keep fighting says Rhodes.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:57:30 PM
Do not give up, be persistent. do not assume that people know more than you do. FIGHT
It is important to be professional but be aggressive too, or else the court people will walk over you

by lope0820 6/6/2015 7:58:08 PM
Thanks for tuning in. The session is now ending.

by Dylan Kellendonk 6/6/2015 7:59:25 PM

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