At the Baton Rouge Press Club (BRPC) meeting of Monday, July 27, 2026, East Baton Rouge Parish (EBRP) District Attorney Hillar Moore prepares to respond to a question by Sound Off Louisiana‘s Robert Burns regarding his position on cameras in courtrooms.
EBRP District Attorney Hillar Moore was the guest speaker at the BRPC meeting of Monday, July 27, 2026. On our last two features, we have focused almost exclusively on affecting changes in Louisiana laws to permit cameras in courtrooms. Here is a summation of the present state of such cameras in courtrooms in various states as taken from our July 5, 2026 feature entailing the New Orleans patently absurd indictment of AG Liz Murrill:
Regarding the permissive granting of cameras in courtrooms at the state level:
“Yes” or permissive policies apply in the vast majority. Examples include broad access in states like Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and others, with varying exceptions (e.g., no jury selection, no jurors, closed proceedings, juveniles, or certain sensitive cases).
Restrictive or “No” states (typically requiring special permission or effectively barring routine use, especially at trial level): Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania are frequently cited as the most restrictive (often described as the primary holdouts prohibiting most camera use).
On July 22, 2026, during a press conference ostensibly about any preparations for Tropical Storm Bertha, both Gov. Jeff Landry and AG Liz Murrill devoted significant time to lambasting the entire process in New Orleans Criminal Court which gave rise to Murrill’s indictment. Let’s take one minute to watch Murrill vent regarding that process and stating in no uncertain terms that what she wants is “transparency.”:
7/22/26: AG Liz Murrill laments how her indictment came about and states emphatically that what she wants is “transparency.” [Note: Video segment courtesy of WWL-TV in New Orleans].
We hold the strongly held position that there is no greater measure of judicial transparency than having cameras in courtrooms! The atrocity that transpired with Murrill is not some isolated incident, but rather Murrill’s misfortune is emblematic of a judicial system (both civil and criminal) in Louisiana that has reached epidemic insanity, and we firmly believe that the only means by which the public (including Murrill) has any hope whatsoever of reining in the outlandish actions taking place in courtrooms throughout Louisiana is via cameras exposing these atrocities in near real time.
With that in mind, we asked Moore where he stands on permitting cameras in courtrooms, and here is his response (including a one-on-one segment Sound Off Louisiana’s Burns conducted with Moore after the meeting had concluded):
7/27/26: Moore states his rationale for “leaning against” cameras in courtrooms, and Burns continues to press him on the issue.
As is obvious from the preceding video, Moore began to equivocate on his “leaning against” cameras in courtrooms even while the camera continued to roll.
Further, in a discussion with Burns after the interview, he indicated that, in light of how difficult it is to even get timely “minute entries” for court proceedings, not to mention a severe shortage of court reporters and the extreme delays that obtaining court transcripts entail, Moore did start to come around to the idea that cameras in courtrooms may not be such a bad idea.
Of course, that could always be to avoid exposing a potential vulnerability for his opponent, Ryan Thompson, to exploit in the November election for EBRP DA. After all, once Hillar Moore defeated former Orleans Parish Assistant DA Dan Claitor 18 years ago, he has not faced any opposition on subsequent reelection efforts until this year.
In our last feature, Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany Parish’s Terry King had this to say: