Monday, April 20, 2020

Public access to oral arguments?

For English, Press 1: What Customer Service Should Not Say ...
"Press 1 for Division 1"

How can appellate courts allow public access to telephonic arguments? Like this:

The Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, will be holding telephonic oral argument for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency. The courtroom will be closed to the public. The public can, however, listen to oral argument by calling 855-855-8556, and entering the access code below for the appropriate division hearing argument that day:
Division One: 3017640#
Division Two: 6722800#
Division Three: 8077123#
Division Four: 2960136#
Division Five: 1548477#

Instructions for the 6th District are here.
This isn't an issue for courts, like the 5th District, which were already webcasting arguments. The 5th District's website says: As always, oral arguments can be viewed live on the Court’s website using the “Oral Argument Webcast” button.