ICAP, in partnership with Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, represented a coalition of journalists and community organizations in a constitutional challenge to Maryland’s “Broadcast Ban.” This state law prohibited the public and the media from broadcasting or disseminating recordings of criminal court proceedings, even if the recordings had been lawfully purchased directly from the court. The plaintiffs argued that the ban functioned as an unconstitutional, content-based restriction that prevented them from using actual courtroom audio in documentaries, podcasts, and community education efforts regarding police misconduct and judicial transparency.
The litigation yielded a major victory for First Amendment rights. In 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated an earlier dismissal of the case, ruling that because the state had already released the information into the public domain, any attempt to punish its publication must survive “strict scrutiny”—the highest legal standard.
On remand in December 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued a final ruling declaring the Broadcast Ban unconstitutional as applied to lawfully obtained recordings. This decision led directly to a formal change in the Maryland Rules, which took effect on January 1, 2024, effectively ending decades of secrecy and allowing the public to use official recordings to hold the judicial system accountable.
