Salt Lake lawyer Brian Barnard, a longtime supporter of the First Amendment and press freedom, has sent a letter to the Utah Judicial Council calling for a ban on cameras in the courtroom.

The letter was prompted by a photograph published April 5 in the Deseret Morning News. It was taken by photographer Scott G. Winterton in the St. George courtroom where a felony rape case has been brought against Warren Jeffs, president of the Fundamentalist LDS Church. The photo shows Jeffs' lawyer, Walter Bugden, taking a document from Jeffs, one that Jeffs had tried unsuccessfully to give to the judge himself.

The photo was enlarged, scrutinized by experts and its contents reported by Deseret Morning News reporter Ben Winslow. One line that is visible reads: "I have not been a Prophet and am not the Prophet."

Barnard admits the idea of asking for a ban on cameras in public courtrooms is rather unorthodox coming from him.

He said he is concerned not only with the possibility of violating attorney-client privilege with modern technology, but perhaps more importantly, violating privacy rights.

"I've been in courtrooms exchanging notes with clients that I do not want public," Barnard said. "There may be documents I want to refer to, not necessarily something from a client, it could be my strategy notes. Apparently if I write too big and somebody has a real good camera, they can see it — and that's troublesome."

Barnard said he wants the Judicial Council to address the issue in a substantive way so that what happened in the Jeffs case never occurs again.

Asking for a total ban on cameras in court is intended to spur discussion that he thinks is important and necessary, and he assumes the council will come up with a more moderate approach that balances the rights of the First Amendment and journalists in courtrooms with the rights of defendants and their attorneys.

David Reymann, attorney for the Deseret Morning News, terms Barnard's request for a total camera ban "extreme and unwarranted."

"The public has a presumptive right to observe the functioning of our criminal justice system. That right is of constitutional magnitude and helps ensure both accountability and public trust in the judicial process," Reymann said.

Since it is impractical for most people to attend court, the media play a valuable role in protecting that right.

Reymann notes that Utah's rule does not allow cameras in the courtroom in every situation, but leaves the decision to each judge. (In addition, judges can impose restrictions on what photographers can shoot and often forbid photos of jurors, victims, witnesses, etc.).