News cameras inside courtroom OK’d for arraignment of Naperville babysitter
BY DAN ROZEK Staff Reporter/drozek@suntimes.com November 20, 2012 2:16PM
Justin Plackowski (left) and his mother Elzbieta Plackowska (right). | Courtesy NBC5
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Updated: December 22, 2012 6:25AM
A DuPage County judge ruled Tuesday that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom for the arraignment of a Naperville woman accused of killing her little boy and the girl she was babysitting — the first time criminal court proceedings will be televised in the Chicago area.
DuPage County Judge Robert Kleeman decided to allow two cameras — one still, one video — in the courtroom for the arraignment of babysitter Elzbieta Plackowska, instead of the total of four requested by the news media.
Kleeman also decided there would be no cameras near the witness stand, but rather would be located back by the jury box in the courtroom.
The ruling, for now, only applies to the arraignment and is on a trial basis. It comes after the Illinois Supreme Court announced earlier this year that it was starting a pilot program to allow cameras at court proceedings.
