Top 5 Worst Things About Zoom Court

Like “Facetime”, Zoom is a free app that allows multiple people to meet online and speak to one another for a variety of purposes. Primarily used for business meetings in the past, court systems across Illinois and the country were quick to adopt this as a partial solution despite some security and privacy issues during the Covid outbreak a few years ago. Some courts now operate nearly 100% on Zoom, while others use a mix of Zoom and in-person court appearances. When the outbreak happened, our courts became wedded to Zoom in one way or the other. Was it a long courtship leading up to this marriage? Not really. It was more a wedding of convenience or a “shotgun wedding”. But Zoom is now a fact of daily court life. Do you, court system, take this Zoom as your lawfully wedded app? Let’s examine whether this marriage is for better or for worse—

1. People Behaving Badly

Many defendants and lawyers had never heard of Zoom before this app was thrust upon them. It soon became clear that not everyone is technologically savvy. After all, a certain percentage of our population still bangs their TV remote on the coffee table to get it to work. So, what did you expect? Unsurprisingly, people sometimes show up on Zoom Court missing very important items of clothing or eating yesterday’s pizza for breakfast on camera. Even some lawyers have been spotted appearing in court from beneath the covers of their bed. Others cannot seem to locate the “mute” function and some carry on sometimes very personal conversations in front of the courtroom. Although the results are sometimes very amusing, they can also be very detrimental to the judicial process and may even constitute “contempt of court” in some circumstances.

2. Lack of Privacy

Criminal and most other court proceedings (excluding juvenile court) are open to the public by law. But before Covid, the only people who typically went to the courthouse were lawyers, defendants, prosecutors and victims. Now, Zoom court proceedings are broadcast for anyone to see. Now, co-workers, ex-spouses, neighbors, bosses, stalkers, and children usually have easy access without driving to the courthouse. This isn’t a problem in and of itself because there’s nothing wrong with public access. The potential problems involve people with bad intentions taking part, which may result in:

• “Zoom Bombing” - People unassociated with the court proceedings have appeared online and impersonated judges and defendants. Others have created disruptions or made threats against the court and court personnel.
• Disclosure of Sensitive Information - A great deal of personal information is sometimes disclosed during Zoom Court. Official court documents are viewable during a “screen share”, very specific details of crimes are discussed, and a defendant’s criminal history, along with psychological/medical information is often disclosed during sentencing; things that would typically not be audible to court visitors sitting in the gallery.
• Potential for criminal activity – For a great many years, people with bad intentions have used publicly available information to blackmail defendants charged with prostitution / solicitation or merely to cause trouble for others. The very sensitive data that such people now have access to has been expanded. People with “an axe to grind” may unfortunately use this information to destroy the lives of others, especially on social media.

3. Lack of Control

In a physical courtroom, a judge can see and control all aspects of the court proceedings and use the court bailiff or sheriff to maintain proper order and decorum. But on Zoom, the following matters are sometimes difficult or impossible to control:

• Exclusion of witnesses – During a criminal or traffic trial, a “motion to exclude” is a typical motion that is enforced to prevent one witness from hearing what the other witness is testifying to. But during a Zoom trial, it’s virtually impossible to be sure that other witnesses (or people listening on their behalf) are not violating this important court order.
• Coaching Witnesses – In traffic or criminal trial or motions, lawyers and other people are not allowed to coach witnesses, tell them what to say, or show them notes. On a zoom proceeding, preventing this from happening can be a challenge.
• Unauthorized recording or videotaping – Recording of court proceedings is generally against the law without specific permission from the judge. As a matter of fact, in some courtrooms, merely having your phone on is a violation of court order and may be considered contempt of court. Policing this during a Zoom hearing is also virtually impossible to do.

4. Judging Demeanor of Witnesses

During a criminal trial or a motion, one of the most important things that a judge does is to examine how a witness speaks and acts on the stand; this relates to defendants as well as police officers and witnesses. A determination of their credibility and truthfulness is vital to a judge’s final decision regarding guilt or innocence. Although some have said that Zoom is even better for this purpose in that a judge can see the person’s face up close on the screen, others point out that other body clues can’t be seen, such as whether a person’s hands are shaking or who he/she is looking at in the courtroom.

5. Time Considerations

Sometimes, Zoom court proceedings are a savings of time with cases that are handled quickly without the necessity of travel to a far-off courthouse. Often times however, proceedings take far longer than usual (or require unnecessary continuances) due to a variety of issues such as:

• Technical problems related to delayed opening of the room or delayed admittance of participants from the “waiting room”;
• Participants that cannot understand how to operate the “mute” function and disruptive participants;
• Problems in communication between prosecutors and defense attorneys related to negotiation of plea arrangements, despite the availability of “private chat” and “break-out room” functions;
• Necessity of contacting prosecutors in advance to negotiate plea arrangements along with the necessity of drafting of court documents also in advance, then sending, signing, scanning, filing of these documents before the Zoom court proceeding.

Mitchell S. Sexner & Associates LLC practices in the areas of criminal, traffic and injury law and can be reached 24/7 at (312) 644-0444.