## Facts

- Arlan D. Kaufman and Linda Kaufman were federally indicted in the District of Kansas for crimes arising from their operation of a residential program for mentally ill or developmentally disabled adults, including Medicare fraud, civil-rights offenses, and involuntary servitude allegations.
- The allegations included sexual misconduct involving mentally ill patients who were expected to testify as victim-witnesses.
- In connection with motions to quash subpoenas directed to certain victims, mental-health professionals submitted opinions that some victims would be unable to withstand the stress of testifying in court.
- Two victims did testify and were visibly distressed in the courtroom and struggled to formulate answers.
- Media General Operations, Inc., a local television station (Channel 12), moved to intervene in the criminal case and requested permission to have courtroom sketch artists present and to broadcast the resulting sketches.
- Neither the government nor the defendants supported allowing sketch artists in the courtroom.
- The jurors unanimously indicated they did not want their likenesses drawn and displayed on television.
- Channel 12 offered to instruct its sketch artists not to sketch the victims or the jurors.

## Issues

1. Whether the First Amendment or common-law right of access required the district court to permit a television station to use courtroom sketch artists during a criminal trial.
2. Whether, given evidence of fragile victim-witnesses and jurors’ objections to being depicted on television, the court could restrict sketch-artist coverage while keeping the trial open to the public.

## Decision

- The court allowed Channel 12 to participate for the limited purpose of presenting its request but denied the request to permit sketch artists in the courtroom.
- The court kept the proceedings open for public and press attendance but restricted this additional method of visual depiction.
- The court relied on the record showing vulnerable victim-witnesses’ distress, the sensitive nature of the anticipated testimony, and jurors’ unanimous objections to televised depictions.

## Legal Principles

- Criminal trials are presumptively open to the public and the press under the First Amendment and the common law, but the right of access is qualified rather than absolute.
- The press generally has a right to attend and report on proceedings on the same terms as the public, but it does not have an automatic right to use any specific method of recording or depiction inside the courtroom.
- Trial courts have broad authority to manage courtroom conditions and may regulate the manner of coverage when supported by case-specific findings tied to witness welfare, juror privacy, and fair-trial concerns.
- When the record shows that a requested form of coverage is likely to increase stress or intimidation for psychologically fragile victim-witnesses, a court may restrict that practice while still permitting attendance and note-based reporting.
- Victim-protection obligations, including statutory rights to be treated with fairness and with respect for dignity and privacy (such as those recognized in the Crime Victims’ Rights Act), may be considered when setting courtroom conditions.

## Conclusion

United States v. Kaufman, 2005 WL 2648070 (D. Kan. 2005), held that although the public and press could attend the trial, a television station was not entitled to add sketch artists for broadcast purposes where the court found, based on concrete evidence, that the presence and televised use of sketches posed a meaningful risk of added distress to mentally ill victim-witnesses and intruded on juror privacy in a highly sensitive prosecution.


United States v. Kaufman, 2005 WL 2648070 (2005)