Bill would end arbitrary closing of juvenile hearings in Texas

No Texas juvenile court hearing could be closed to the public without a hearing and evidence showing the need to do so under a bill filed this week by a Fort Worth lawmaker.

The proposal by Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, comes a year after state District Judge Jean Boyd closed her Tarrant County juvenile courtroom to everyone not directly connected to the case of a teenager accused of bludgeoning a friend to death with a hammer. The teen was ultimately sentenced to 26 years behind bars.

Boyd had already made national news for sentencing then-16-year-old Ethan Couch to 10 years’ probation and therapy for driving drunk and causing a crash that left four people dead and more injured.

“This bill allows for open courts,” Goldman said of House Bill 1803. “This lists requirements a judge has to go through before closing the courtroom to the general public.

“We get that sometimes courts need to close, but this requires courts to go through a few steps before doing so,” he said. “We don’t want to shut the public out of any courtroom.”

After Boyd closed her courtroom, six major media outlets in Dallas-Fort Worth — the Star-Telegram, The Dallas Morning News, and television stations KTVT, KXAS, KDFW and WFAA — filed pleas asking the judge to release transcripts from the hearings.

The pleas alleged that Boyd abused her discretion when she banned the public and media from the hearings without showing cause or holding a hearing on the matter.

Fort Worth’s 2nd Court of Appeals ordered the judge to vacate the two closure orders and make the transcripts available.

In a response to the media outlets’ petition, Boyd wrote that she closed the Jan. 10, 2014, hearing out of concern that pretrial publicity could make it hard to seat an impartial jury.

She wrote that she closed the Jan. 22, 2014, hearing because of the sexual nature of the crime (even though prosecutors agreed to omit such details during the hearing) and her concern over the media’s decision to publish the name and photograph of a juvenile in an unrelated high-profile case.

She didn’t name that case but was clearly referring to Couch.

“It is the Court’s opinion, based on extensive coverage of this case, as well as other juvenile cases, that this media coverage is not conducive to the rehabilitation of the juveniles, and, therefore, I will exclude the public from this proceeding and find good cause to do so,” Boyd said during the Jan. 22, 2014, hearing, according to the transcript.

‘Judges can’t just do that’

Under Goldman’s bill, a party to the case would need to file a motion asking for a closed hearing. The presiding judge would then have to hold a hearing to determine whether the court should be closed and release a written decision.

Anyone involved in the case — as well as members of the public — could immediately appeal the order.

The bill is drawing support from the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

“This looks like a good bill,” said Joe Larsen, a foundation board member. “It says a judge just can’t close the hearing. … There has to be a finding on it.

“I think we will see more open hearings in juvenile court.”

Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said Goldman’s bill is needed.

In 2014, “the judge was relying on a family law provision that seemed to indicate she had the authority to just close the courtroom, which is not what the Constitution stated,” she said. “We want to change the statute to make it clear.

“There should be a hearing to decide whether to close proceedings,” she said. “Judges can’t just do that. There has to be a hearing with evidence … and the public gets to be present at that hearing as well.”

But Wilson said she and others are mindful that those on trial are juveniles.

“We want to be careful in juvenile proceedings that we are not harming the victim of the crime … or the child’s right to a fair trial,” she said. “There are many things that can be done.

“Closing a courtroom is the most extreme action a judge can take.”

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published February 25, 2015 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Bill would end arbitrary closing of juvenile hearings in Texas."