G20 Toronto - Judge bans public from taking notes

TheSpec.com - Opinions - JP bans public from taking notes

Everyone is allowed to take notes in court.

Period.

But the other day a Toronto justice of the peace decided to make up
his own rules. He banned "note-taking" in his Etobicoke courtroom where
bail hearings were being held for G20 protesters.

It was the latest -- and most ridiculous -- in a series of bizarre
steps taken by court officials to build a big fat wall around the whole
judicial process for accused demonstrators.

So much for an open and transparent court system. So much for
accountability.
...

Conacher offered no explanation. Cited no law.

Because there is no good explanation. And there is no law. The
publication ban doesn't prevent taking notes. It only limits what you
can do with them afterward.

"Publication means showing it to somebody else," says Rogers. He
has never heard of a JP or judge banning note-taking.

...