WESA 90.5FM, 03/02/21: “Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Anthony Mariani was sued in federal court Tuesday for allegedly barring volunteer court observers from virtually attending hearings in his courtroom.

The Abolitionist Law Center brought the suit, which stated that Mariani is the only judge in the county’s court system to stop the public from attending court remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic. While Mariani has welcomed the court observers to attend in person, the lawsuit contends that due to the health threat posed by the virus, the public’s First Amendment rights are being violated if observers can’t have online access to proceedings.

“Under the Constitution, all members of the public and the press have a right to observe their courts and court officials in action, getting to see exactly what’s happening inside their courtrooms,” said Nicolas Riley, an attorney for the plaintiffs and senior counsel at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at the Georgetown University Law Center.

ALC’s Court Watch program has sought to serve that watchdog function since forming in January 2020. The group regularly monitors local court proceedings and shares its observations through social media, articles, and reports, the lawsuit said.

Such monitoring is “the only way for members of the press and the public to know what’s happening in the criminal justice system in order to scrutinize it, criticize it, praise it, and hold the actors that participate in that system accountable,” Riley said.

Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania are also representing the plaintiffs.”

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