Webcast of Wednesday's arguments a first for Missouri's highest court

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The first webcast of arguments before the Missouri Supreme Court, produced by the Southeast Missourian, created new issues for cameras in the courtroom, the court's spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The Southeast Missourian discussed technical and legal issues with the court for more than a week before permission was granted to put live pictures from the court on the Internet. The court has regularly provided live and archived feeds of audio from oral arguments for several years, first through the statewide radio network MissouriNet and now through the court's own system.

Whether there will be a repeat of the webcast soon must be decided by the court's seven judges, court spokeswoman Beth Riggert said. "The court is certainly interested in making its procedures accessible to the public," she said. "There are cost considerations, whether it is something we can support."

The state is in the midst of one of the worst budget situations in memory, with severe cuts in many programs.

The court agreed to the Southeast Missourian's request to webcast arguments in Purcell v. Cape Girardeau County Commission as an experiment, Riggert said. The court knew that Southeast Missouri had a high interest in the case and long distances made travel problematic to attend the arguments live, she said.

Riggert made no promises that the experiment would be repeated again soon. "Everything will be treated on a case-by-case basis," she said.

Missouri court rules on cameras in the courtroom have not been revisited since they were put in place in 1992, and technology has changed dramatically in the intervening years.

"I think it is something where the court is at least interested in exploring what is possible," Riggert said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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