{"id":4810,"date":"2004-05-02T08:27:23","date_gmt":"2004-05-02T12:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2004\/05\/02\/the-marshall-and-the-cellphon"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:58:49","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:58:49","slug":"the-marshall-and-the-cellphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2004\/05\/02\/the-marshall-and-the-cellphone\/","title":{"rendered":"the marshall and the cellphone"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Yesterday, just when I needed some lawyer humor, Craig Williams<\/STRONG> posted<\/A> about his recent run-in at court with the <\/FONT>cellphone police<\/FONT>.  Actually, it concerned one of them new-fangled picture-takin’, call-makin’, bread-bakin’ PDAs.   [In my day, a PDA<\/A> was a public display of affection, and not a provocative device of annoyance.]  Being a man who hates to be inconvenienced, but who has an admirable sense of humor, Craig has supplied us with his usual dose of understated whimsy, plus lots of links concerning both cellphone nannies and courthouse personnel. <\/FONT><\/P>
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\"lawyer  Having been forced to go through court metal detectors a second time on too many occasions (often to feed the one-hour<\/EM> parking meters that surround the Family Court in Schenectady — do not<\/EM> get me started on <\/FONT>parking meters<\/FONT><\/A>!), I am not totally unsympathetic to Craig’s plight.  On the other hand, having vented over cellphone use in many other circumstances (e.g.,<\/EM> <\/FONT>here<\/FONT><\/A>), it should surprise no one that this old fogey is siding with the miffed marshalls and the jaundiced jurists.  Cellphones and tiny cameras don’t belong in the courtroom (not to mention the guns<\/A> made to look like cellular telephones).  <\/FONT><\/P>
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Update <\/EM><\/STRONG>(05-03-04):<\/FONT>  See this warning from law.com<\/A>: “Most federal courthouses ban two items: weapons … and cell phones. For other courts, lawyers and clients would be wise to check local rules. But there does seem to be one consistent rule of thumb for cell phones: If you bring it to court, one day it will ring — and it will cost you.”    [Thanks to Nancy<\/A> for the pointer.]  <\/FONT><\/P>
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