Colorado Politics: A slim majority of the Colorado Supreme Court decided on Monday that livestreaming criminal proceedings without also opening the physical courtroom to spectators may violate the constitutional guarantee of a public trial.

Addressing an issue that arose during the early COVID-19 pandemic, the justices considered whether it was acceptable for trial judges to restrict their physical courtrooms to onlookers so long as they provided a remote viewing alternative. By 4-3, the Supreme Court concluded that doing so could amount to a constitutional violation in the absence of a clear justification.

“Screens in a courtroom, no matter their number or the nature of their display, are an inadequate substitute for the physical presence of real spectators in the gallery and the powerful reminder that those spectators provide to jurors regarding the gravity of their role,” wrote Justice Maria E. Berkenkotter in the June 23 majority opinion.

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