No reading books while in candia district court

[Sutherland]

I thought I'd report my experiences at Candia district court today. I was there for a speeding ticket hearing this morning and I since I got there early I sat in the back of the courtroom audience and started reading a book. A few minutes after sitting down I was told by the court bailiff that reading a book was against the court rules unless it pertained to a court case. I was asked to leave the courtroom and sit in the lobby if I wanted to continue reading. Since I was there, I then when to court clerk and asked for a copy of the court rules. She was not able to produce any but instead handed me a 3x5 card with the website www.courts.state.nh.us. The site did have a link http://www.courts.state.nh.us/rules/index.htm to the district courts rules. I also could not find any language referring barring reading a book nor could I find any general rules of conduct. The section "Regulation of conduct in the courtroom" pretty much only covers video taping and appropriate dress in the courtroom. This tells me that, similar to Keene District court, the Candia court officers are just making up rules on the spot and done so to command obedience since reading a book certainly isn't disturbing any court proceeding. Since Candia court on my way to work, I'm thinking of picking some random mornings to sit down in the Candia court audience with a copy of the NH constitution as my form of protest. I'm opening to hearing some other ideas as well especially advice on making formal complaints.   

On another note the I could overhear the Candia prosecuter offering "deals" to several people there for traffic tickets. The part I liked is that she was giving some people the option of paying the fine, doing 8 hours of community service within 30 days or donating $100 to a local charity within 30 days. She pitched that the donation to charity do not go toward the Candia PD and that the person could choose which one to give to. Its still forced but, at least there's an option that doesn't contribute to the coffers of the state. 

On the other hand, she also stated the arresting officer was not in the court but on duty at the time and could be called in to testify. I'm pretty sure this is a standard line used to discourage people from hoping that if the arresting officers does show up and getting off from the ticket. While I can't confirm that the officers where not on duty at the time but, after overhearing it several times I highly doubt all of them were on duty.

[Kat Kanning]

I saw the 'no reading' thing in another court in NH.  Don't recall which one. 

[KBCraig]

The court officers get away with making up their own rules, because the judges can legally and officially do the same. No matter what's written on paper, whatever a judge says will be the rule of the day.