Cell Phones in Courthouses, Part 1

A few weeks ago, I visited the Oakland County Court complex to file some documents with the probate court. This was my second time to this courthouse and the first visit had taught me that lawyers were allowed to bring cell phones into the courthouse (a term I use loosely because the building is a six-story administrative complex). I was not going to the court this second time as a lawyer; just an average citizen petitioning for guardianship of his grandmother, much like the two people I stood in line behind at the clerk’s counter. However, unlike them, I had my cell phone, with access to the internet, Google Maps, and the notes app. Fortunately, I had filled out my forms correctly, but I was back for a second time because I did not have all the correct information the last time. I had the power on my second trip to correct any omissions merely because I passed the Michigan bar examination. There’s an argument that becoming an attorney a winnowing process and/or a mark of responsibility, but in my view, a layperson cell phone ban is an infeffective tool to accomplish the court’s goals.

I knew to leave my cell phone in the car and to ask the deputies in Oakland County about lawyer’s phones because Genesee County courts have the same rule: unless you are a lawyer or law-adjacent (court case workers, probation officers, etc.), your cell phone cannot enter the courthouse. In Michigan, the state supreme court has given counties discretion to make their own rules. Some have opted for the Genesee/Oakland County full-ban model; others allow phones in the courthouse but they not to be used or seen in a courtroom (ex. Alpena County). Between Wayne (criminal courts only), Oakland, Genesee, and Washtenaw Counties, more than a third (37.92% or 3,790,949 people) of the population of Michigan cannot bring cell phones into the courthouse.

In Part 2, I will explore the three categories of reasons that I generally hear in support of a “cell phone ban,“ distraction, security, and county income. I will also explore why these explanations are insufficient and why less restrictive measures would be just as effective.

Subsequent to my writing Part 1, the Michigan Supreme Court went ahead without consulting me and made this blog post a mere academic exercise by requiring all state courthouses to allow cell phones starting in May of this year. In Part 3, I will explain the effect and stated reasons of the supreme court order.