Open Court online access project now live

OpenCourt.us, one of the first initiatives in the nation to bring digital access to courtrooms, went live today (May 2). It’s a project of WBUR in Boston in collaboration with the Massachusetts courts, and funded by a grant from the Knight Foundation’s Knight News Challenge. There’s a live stream of Quincy District Court proceedings and WiFi in the courtroom for citizen journalists. “Of the three branches of government, the judicial system has become the least accessible to the public,” said John Davidow, executive editor of WBUR.org and the project’s lead. “The goal of OpenCourt is to reconnect the public with this important part of our democracy and provide the greater understanding that comes with accessibility.” The intiative originally was called Order in the Court 2.0 when it was funded in June 2010.