Cellphone policy changed after judge threatens clerk with jail time for bringing phone to court
An Illinois judge was directed to participate in training following an October 2023 incident where she threatened a law clerk with jail time and prohibited him from entering the courthouse after he brought a cellphone into her courtroom.
The George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago generally does not allow court users to carry mobile phones into the courtroom, noted an article of the ABA Journal, a magazine of the American Bar Association.
As an exception, lawyers and their authorized employees can take their phones inside, the article explained. The law clerk, who assumed that he fell under the exception because he was working for a lawyer, agreed to place his phone into a locker upon being instructed by a sheriff’s deputy, the article said.
The Executive Committee of the Circuit Court of Cook County recently reviewed the circumstances surrounding the incident involving Peggy Chiampas, associate judge of the court’s Criminal Division, said the court in a news release.
The committee decided that Chiampas needed training and mentoring under Erica Reddick, presiding judge of the Criminal Division, on how to enforce administrative orders applicable to the use of electronic devices in courtrooms, according to the news release.
The committee also chose to introduce changes to the applicable general administrative order to clarify its policy for court users on possessing and using electronic devices in courthouses, the news release said. All the court’s judges would receive the amended training materials relating to the policy and the enforcement of administrative orders, the news release added.
A notable change in the court’s updated order, which affects all its courthouses, permits members of news media to take notes and to send text messages and emails to their colleagues even while the court is in session, the news release said.
“The Circuit Court is committed to ensuring our courtrooms operate in accordance with the law and we will continue to update our policies, orders and trainings as needed to best serve Cook County,” said Timothy Evans, the court’s chief judge, in the news release.
