Judge: Palin's son cannot bar media from his court case

[TexasTowelie]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska judge has rejected efforts by the eldest son of former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to bar the media and the public from attending proceedings in an assault case against him in a therapeutic court.

Judge David Wallace on Monday said in a written opinion that closing Track Palin's hearings in Veterans Court to the public and the press "would violate the basic and fundamental principles set forth in long standing precedent."

However, Wallace did agree with Palin's lawyer to bar still, video and cellphone cameras from the proceedings, saying it would protect the privacy of those participating in Veterans Courts.

"By allowing media reporters in the courtroom it has satisfied any perceived notions that the court is not open to the public," Wallace wrote, who was appointed to the bench by Sarah Palin when she was Alaska's governor. "And, the media will be able to fulfill what it perceives is its obligation to the public in covering the hearings involving this defendant."

Read more: http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/judge-palin-s-son-cannot-bar-media-from-his-court/article_71f35607-46e9-59c0-b3f1-041ae2bdc28c.html