As Allegheny County judge offers remote court access, lawsuit could be dismissed

A court watch program that sued an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge for failing to provide access to remote court proceedings has agreed to “pause” the case for three weeks in hopes of a resolution.

The Abolitionist Law Center’s Court Watch program filed suit against Judge Anthony M. Mariani in early March, contending he was violating the public’s First Amendment right to court access.

However, a few days after the complaint was filed, Mariani began granting remote access to all of his proceedings. On Friday, Allegheny County court administrators issued an order requiring “all judges and magisterial district judges” to continue to offer public access to remote proceedings through June 30.

The plaintiffs are hopeful they can discontinue the lawsuit if access continues.

“We want to make sure that Judge Mariani actually complies with the court’s new policy — fully and consistently — and that he continues to provide ALC with virtual access; if he doesn’t, then we’ll plan to push ahead with the litigation,” said attorney Nicolas Riley of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center. “If we feel, ultimately, comfortable that the new administrative order has fully solved the problem, then we’ll dismiss the lawsuit.

“But we won’t do that until we’re confident that the problem has been fully remedied.”

A member of Mariani’s staff on Monday said he had no comment.

When the covid-19 pandemic began, the state Supreme Court declared a judicial emergency. Several weeks later, Allegheny County court administration encouraged judges to conduct as many matters as possible using video conferencing to limit the number of people inside the courthouse. However, the courts were not allowing the public to observe those remote proceedings.

Several groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown sent repeated letters urging the courts to make those same hearings available to the public remotely, as well.

It wasn’t until January — and after being threatened with a lawsuit — that court administration announced that the public could request access to criminal court proceedings, as long as the request was made by 9 a.m. the business day before the hearing is scheduled.

Even after the policy was put in place, Mariani refused to grant remote access.

According to the Court Watch lawsuit, its representatives requested to watch more than 100 proceedings before Mariani and they were refused each time.

They sued in U.S. District Court on March 2.

Since their lawsuit was filed, Mariani has allowed Court Watch representatives to observe every proceeding requested, Riley said.

He called it a “positive development” that he hopes continues.

“We’re obviously glad to see Judge Mariani abandon his unconstitutional policy of refusing all requests for virtual access,” Riley said.

There have been several covid outbreaks of cases in the Allegheny County court system, including in the Department of Court Records this month.