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Child protection court halts livestream to protect confidentiality of young adult in extended foster care
Summary
During a Zoom review hearing in the High Plains Child Protection Court, the presiding judge closed the courtroom and stopped the livestream after counsel asked that private medical information not be broadcast; the action was taken with no recorded objection.
The High Plains Child Protection Court closed a Zoom hearing and stopped its livestream to protect private medical information of Mary Jane Jupiter, an adult appearing for a review hearing on extended foster care.
The request came during preliminary announcements when Stacy Zavala, speaking on behalf of Mary Jane Jupiter, said, “Mary Jane is an adult now, but we are probably going to be talking about some private medical information, and I really would prefer that this be off of YouTube for that.” Melinda Powell appeared for the department and announced that “the Saint Francis permanency specialist today is Will Ratten.”
After the announcement and the request, the presiding judge said, “A motion's been made, and no objection then to protect the confidentiality of the young adult who is in care. I will close the courtroom, stop the livestream, and we'll resume that when appropriate.” The judge then closed the public portion of the proceeding and stopped the livestream to the public platform; the judge indicated the hearing would resume its public stream when appropriate.
The transcript identifies the matter as card number 93126 and describes the proceeding as a review hearing on extended foster care for Mary Jane Jupiter. The court record shows the hearing was being conducted via Zoom and that the session was being recorded to the Zoom cloud before the judge ordered the public stream halted. No formal vote tally or mover/second was recorded in the public transcript; the judge characterized the action as a motion with no objection.
Participants named on the record before the courtroom was closed included Melinda Powell for the department, Will Ratten as the Saint Francis permanency specialist for the day, Stacy Zavala representing Mary Jane Jupiter, and the presiding judge. The transcript also records discussion among caseworkers about who was assigned to the case (references to Jason and Taylor McDonald) but those staffing remarks were procedural and did not affect the court's confidentiality order.
The judge's order to close the public stream reflects routine confidentiality practice when private medical information will be discussed during child protection proceedings. The transcript indicates the court planned to resume public streaming when discussing matters appropriate for the public record.
