Public Access to Court Records to Facilitate Voter Advocacy

Every court in Michigan makes video or audio recordings of many of its proceedings.  However, unlike many other states, Michigan lacks a statewide rule requiring those recordings to be made available to the public, even though they are produced using taxpayer dollars.  Dr. Samantha Hallman is a university professor of social work and an advocate for judicial transparency who, from 2022 onwards, has sought to obtain recordings of a number of proceedings that occurred in Michigan’s 52^nd district court (Rochester and nearby communities) and its 6^th Circuit Court (Oakland County). Both courts denied her requests in part or whole because of local administrative orders that restricted public access to recordings of court proceedings. Dr. Hallman wishes to use these recordings to educate herself and the public, about what happens in local courts; to inform herself and others in voting on local judges, as Michigan voters are called upon to do in almost every election; and to lobby statewide elected officials to adopt stronger measures to promote judicial transparency.  In April 2025, the ACLU filed a complaint in federal court against officials at both courts that denied Dr. Hallman’s requests, arguing that restricting Michiganders’ access to recordings of open court proceedings violates the First Amendment.  In June 2025, the government moved to dismiss; in July we filed response briefs; and in August the government filed a reply. We are awaiting a decision.  (Hallman v. Reeds; ACLU Attorneys Phil Mayor, Dan Korobkin, and Bonsitu Kitaba-Gaviglio.)