Loading…
No photographs, video or audio recordings may be taken in any courtroom, courthouse facility or courthouse entrance or exit, or of court proceedings over any audio or video platform, without a court order (except copying court records under Government Code section 68150); violations may be referred for prosecution (Penal Code § 632). Supersedes every prior order on recording devices in courthouse facilities.
California > Sixth Appellate District > Santa Clara County > Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara
[File stamp: FILED, JAN 15 2026, Clerk of the Court, Superior Court of CA County of Santa Clara, By: F. Bryant, Deputy] SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA STANDING ORDER USE OF RECORDING AND PHOTOGRAPHY DEVICES IN COURTHOUSE FACILITIES AND OVER AUDIO OR VIDEO PLATFORMS This Court HEREBY FINDS AND ORDERS AS FOLLOWS: It is well settled that while the media has the right to attend and report on open judicial proceedings, there is no constitutional right to photograph or otherwise electronically record them. (See Marin Independent Journal v. Municipal Court (1993) 12 Cal.App.4th 1712, 1718 [“Electronic recording of judicial proceedings is subject to the discretion of the court”], citing Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc. (1978) 435 U.S. 589, 610.) Furthermore, a courthouse facility qualifies as a nonpublic forum. (See, e.g. United States v. Grace (1983) 461 U.S. 171, 178.) Consistent with case law, California law, California Rules of Court, rule 1.150 and Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara General Court and Administration Rules, rule 2, unless permitted upon proper Order of the Court and except for the limited purpose permitted under California Government Code section 68150 to copy court records, no photographs, video recordings or audio recordings may be taken with any device capable of photographing, recording or broadcasting (1) in any courtroom, courthouse facility, and courthouse entrance or exit, regardless of whether the photograph, video recording or audio recording is taken from inside or outside the courthouse; or (2) of court proceedings over any audio or video platform. Except for the limited purpose permitted under California Government Code section 68150 to copy court records, taking photographs, video recordings, or audio recordings in any courtroom, courthouse facility, courthouse entrance or exit, regardless of whether the photograph, video recording or audio recording is taken from inside or outside the courthouse, or of a court proceeding over any audio or video platform without proper Order of the Court may be considered a violation of various statutes and rules and may be referred for prosecution. (See Penal Code §632.) This order supersedes every prior order related to use of recording devices in courthouse facilities. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: January 15, 2026 [signature] HON. JULIE A. EMEDE PRESIDING JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT
[File stamp: FILED, JAN 15 2026, Clerk of the Court, Superior Court of CA County of Santa Clara, By: F. Bryant, Deputy] SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA STANDING ORDER USE OF RECORDING AND PHOTOGRAPHY DEVICES IN COURTHOUSE FACILITIES AND OVER AUDIO OR VIDEO PLATFORMS This Court HEREBY FINDS AND ORDERS AS FOLLOWS: It is well settled that while the media has the right to attend and
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-28 (California T3 Santa Clara build 2026-09-28) from BenchPath custody ca/t3/ca-santa-clara/standing-order-use-recording-devices-courthouse-facilities.pdf (118516 bytes, sha256 241d997b535fbd0475494851c875d7af53863541bdbf5a3cf744c550427d5eea; 2 pages) - the court's own posted PDF, a scan (any OCR text layer was not relied on): transcribed from the rendered page images, every page read against the image; a machine reading (RapidOCR) was used only as a second reader for a word-level diff, every difference classified (pleading line numbers, page numbers and the running footer omitted as chrome); every quotation mark, apostrophe and section sign checked in full-resolution crops; the file stamp and the signature are bracketed. The citation “12 Cal.App.4th” prints “th” as a superscript; it is written on the line here. Printed irregularities are kept as printed.
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.