Continuous camera monitoring of attorney-client communications in pre-arraignment rooms at the new state courthouse on Staten Island has been blocked by a federal judge.
Less than a month after the $230 million courthouse opened, Southern District Judge George Daniels Tuesday agreed that the constant running of video monitors, installed in four pre-arraignment meeting rooms for safety reasons, are contrary to the terms of a 1999 settlement agreement between the Legal Aid Society and the city, and “likely violative of the Sixth Amendment” right to counsel.
