Posted on 08/29/2005 8:37:08 AM PDT by aomagrat
A cell phone ringing to the tune of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” is not music to Judge Reginald Lloyd’s ears.
In fact, hearing the strains of that classical favorite or any other ring tone in his courtroom makes him cringe.
“Songs are the worst,” the state circuit court judge said.
Lloyd has about 10 cell phones in his collection from those who weren’t willing to pay the $200 fine he charges to get them back. He keeps some on his desk and the rest on the bench.
Although signs are posted in courthouses, warning visitors to turn off the phones, the inevitable happens, prompting some judges to lock up the phones — or their owners.
It’s a problem that has South Carolina’s highest judge considering banning cell phones from state courts, a step that U.S. courts already have taken.
“Of all places, Richland County has been the worst. Here, it has just become a headache,” Lloyd said. “There’s not a week that goes by that two or three don’t go off.”
That’s probably because of the high volume of cases in Richland County, he said.
Several years ago, Judge James Williams held a juror in contempt when her cell phone went off three times in a Kershaw County courtroom, Fifth Circuit Deputy Solicitor John Meadors said. The juror, who spent a couple of days in jail, told the judge she had a business and could not turn off the phone, he said.
In 2003, circuit court Judge Markley Dennis ordered a Charleston woman locked up after her cell phone rang in his courtroom.
Chief Justice Jean Toal issued an order in 2000 banning the use of cell phones in courtrooms. The phones must be turned off or placed on vibrate. But Toal is thinking of broadening that order to ban cell phones in the courtroom altogether.
In federal courtrooms, cell phones must be left at courthouse entrances and picked up with a claim ticket, Chief U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson said.
Because some cell phones can be used as cameras and recorders, Toal is concerned that people might abuse those capabilities, taking photos of jurors.
“It’s a concern nationally,” she said.
Toal recalled two recent incidents in which jurors made calls from their cell phones during deliberations. One jury member involved in a medical malpractice case called her doctor for advice, resulting in a mistrial, Toal said.
“It’s becoming a problem for us. Despite all the instructions you give them, it happens,” she said.
It’s not only jurors or courtroom observers who find themselves in hot water with their phones. An Orangeburg police officer knew his phone was history when it began chiming in municipal court Judge Barney Houser’s courtroom.
“He looked very embarrassed. He took his phone out and walked up and handed it to me,” Houser said.
When phones are confiscated in his courtroom, Houser sends them to a battered women’s shelter.
Lloyd does the same with his seized phones. More people choose to let him keep the phones rather than pay the hefty price to get them back, he said. Those who do pay want the phones back because of all the numbers they have programmed, he said.
Because most people are not used to being in court, they do not pay attention to the signs and simply forget to turn off the phones, 11th Circuit Court Judge Marc Westbrook said.
During his statement opening court sessions, Westbrook reminds people to turn off their phones. If one rings after that, he gives everyone 30 seconds to make sure their phones are off. That’s his last warning. Ringing phones are taken away from subsequent violators and returned after court.
“I try to be halfway understanding to a point,” he said.
Sometimes the judges have no choice. When 2nd Circuit Court Judge Jack Early heard a chiming phone in his courtroom and eyed the offender, he begged the audience to show some mercy.
“It was my wife’s,” Early said. “Obviously I couldn’t put her in jail even though I wanted to.”
What's good for the gander is suspossed to be good for the goose.
Almost thought that said Judge Reinhold!
It should be legal to give anyone who uses music as their cell ring a swift kick in the pants.
Do you consider 'rap' 'music'?
He should install a cell phone jammer in his courtroom.
It wouldn't be the first time a judge did something illegal.
He should make it legal in his courtroom.
Then they deserve to lose them.
I'd like to see a similar rule in theatres and movies as well. Some people have no manners whatsoever, and ignoring the sign is just another example of the "me first, me second, screw everybody else" element of our society.
The imperial judiciary at work...
Two or three a week! Can you imagine, oh the humanity! I feel this judge's pain, no one should be required to suffer such harassment. Offenders should be immediately arrested, taken out of the courtroom and shot. People need to show respect and deference to the Judiciary, that's what I say.
Yeah, and, in other news: the three remaining bargainers of an original six member sheep's union with the renegade wolf is in its 4th day of negotiations, no settlement in sight.
Speaking of which, anybody know what's happening with Noel Bush (Jeb's daughter)?
I was unaware that a judge could override FCC regulations.
You learn something new every day. </sarcasm>
I didn't realise that a low-powered cell jammer, used by a government agency, would be against FCC rules.
There are laws which forbid intentional interference with communications. There are no exceptions which would apply in this situation......much as we wish there were.
I like what David Cross told an audience member to answer their phone went it went off during his act. "Go ahead answer it. Just say I'm an a$$hole and forgot to turn my phone off. Then hang up and I'll go on."
Legalize assault against people who are exercising simple freedom? Sounds like you're wishing for a radical islamic dictatorship.
Now we know why your screen name is Psycho_Bunny
.
Then that would solve the judges problem. He could pay for it with the fines he collects.
Government agencies are totally free to ignore any federal regulations they don't like or find inconvenient.
</sarcasm>
Hope You Like Jamming, Too: "In the United States, actively jamming a cell-phone signal is illegal. The FCC, which is the government agency in charge of regulating the airwaves, has established severe penalties for doing so. "
Yet they are readily available.
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