(TNS) — Cellphones and other electronic devices have been banned from the Forsyth County Courthouse.
Judge David Hall of Forsyth Superior Court and Judge David Sipprell of Forsyth District Court signed the order banning the devices on Friday, Nov. 7.
The ban went into effect on Monday, Nov. 10.
In Forsyth County, Hall is the chief resident superior court judge, and Sipprell is the chief district court judge.
The ban covers cell phones, smart phones, computers, electronic tablets, cameras, smart watches, smart glasses, and “any other electronic device capable of recording or transmitting sound or images,” according to the court order.
Several signs written in English and Spanish about the ban are posted along Second Street across from the Forsyth County Jail and in the Chestnut Street parking lot, across from the courthouse.
The order also is posted on the courthouse’s front doors.
The order exempts “authorized persons” from the ban such as the courthouse staff, employees who work for the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts, judges and attorneys.
The order also exempts federal, state and local law enforcement officers, local school employees, state, county and city employees, expert witnesses, prospective and empaneled jurors, bail bondsmen, volunteers with the Veterans Treatment Court and others.
The order’s purpose “is to prevent the recording and dissemination of images of judges, witnesses, undercover officers, child victims, and court personnel,” Hall and Sipprell wrote, “in order that each person is able to perform his or her duties without threat of intimidation or unlawful repercussion.”
The use of cellphones and other electronic devices “threatens the integrity of the judicial process, endangers lives and intimidates those serving as witnesses and jurors,” the judges wrote.
“Restriction on the use of electronic devices in courthouses are now commonplace in state and federal courthouses, including the Supreme Court of the United States,” Hall and Sipprell wrote.
“This order seeks to balance these security concerns with the recognition of the important needs of individuals to have access to important means of communication,” the judges wrote.
The Forsyth County Courthouse joins the Guilford County Courthouses in Greensboro and High Point, where cellphones are banned.
The Forsyth County Courthouse opened in October 2023. It replaced the Forsyth County Hall of Justice, which opened in November 1974.
Cellphones also are banned from the Ward Federal Building in Winston-Salem and the Preyer Federal Building in Greensboro.
Before the ban was enacted, bailiffs told people inside the local courtrooms to turn off their cellphones before court hearings and trials.
Bailiffs are Forsyth County sheriff’s deputies.
Three people walking from the courthouse Wednesday said they don’t like the ban.
Avery Brown of Winston-Salem said the ban is the wrong approach.
“They (court officials) are worried about the wrong things,” Brown said. “They are trying to keep things private in the courtrooms. There are people in the courtrooms who were arrested for things they didn’t do.”
Lori Cook of Greensboro said she liked bringing her cellphone to the courthouse before the ban.
“You were free to take your phone inside the courthouse,” Cook said. “They are hiding stuff. Are they afraid that we are taking pictures?”
The ban will inconvenience people who ride WSTA buses to get to the courthouse, Nakia Byrd of Winston-Salem said.
“I think it’s crazy when people who rode the bus here have to find someone to keep their phone,” Byrd said. “I had to call someone to keep my phone.”
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