Administrative Office of Courts
Media logistics for January 21 Mississippi Supreme Court oral arguments The Mississippi Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 21 in the case of Lauren Beth Czekala-Chatham v. State of Mississippi, ex rel. Jim Hood, Attorney General of the State of Mississippi, cause number 2014-CA-00008-SCT, on appeal from DeSoto County Chancery Court. Media must obtain permission from the Supreme Court to do camera coverage of oral arguments. A Camera Coverage Notice must be filed 48 hours in advance by any media wishing to photograph, live stream, videotape or record audio of the oral arguments. The Court does not expect to invoke the pool camera rule. Only credentialed media will be allowed to take photographs and do electronic coverage. Non-media spectators will not be permitted to photograph or videotape the proceedings, per the Court’s longstanding rules for electronic coverage. Media should be seated by 1:15 p.m. Please arrive early and set up any equipment in advance. Members of the media wishing to use cameras and other electronic equipment will be seated in the En Banc Courtroom balcony. Equipment may include cameras, recorders, laptops and cell phones. Cell phones must be in silent mode. Any equipment installation, cable runs, site surveys and other preparations should be completed on the morning of Jan. 21. All cables inside the building must be taped securely to the floor before the proceeding begins. The Supreme Court is located at 450 High Street in Jackson. The public entrance is on the northeast side of the building, off George Street. All spectators must be screened through the metal detector at the northeast entrance of the building. The proceeding is expected to last more than an hour. The Court has allotted 30 minutes each for attorneys representing Czekala-Chatham and the Attorney General. The Court’s practice is to take all matters under advisement after oral arguments, and issue a written decision at a later date. The deadline for filing a Camera Coverage Notice is 1:30 p.m. Jan. 19. The Camera Coverage Notice must be filed with both the Clerk of Courts and the Supreme Court Administrator. Camera Coverage Notices may be faxed to Clerk of Courts Muriel Ellis at 601-359-2407 and Supreme Court Administrator Hubbard T. Saunders IV at 601-359-2443. The Camera Coverage Notice form is at this link: Click Here The style of the case is Lauren Beth Czekala-Chatham v. State of Mississippi, ex rel. Jim Hood, Attorney General of the State of Mississippi. The cause number is 2014-CA-00008-SCT. Broadcast and still camera coverage of oral arguments will be in accordance with the Supreme Court Rules for Electronic and Photographic Coverage of Judicial Proceedings. All media representatives are expected to be familiar with and abide by these rules. A copy of the rules is available on the Rules page of the Mississippi Judiciary web site at this link: Click Here The Supreme Court streams video of the oral arguments live via the Mississippi Judiciary web site on this web page: Click Here A link to the court’s YouTube archive of oral arguments is available on the same web page. The brief of Appellant Czekala-Chatham is at th is link: Click Here The brief of the Attorney General is at this link: Click Here The media logistics plan is subject to modification if changes are deemed necessary by the Court. Questions about media logistics should be directed to Public Information Officer Beverly Pettigrew Kraft at 601-576-4637 or bkraft@courts.ms.gov. #### |
