Smart glasses will be banned in every New York courtroom starting July 20, according to a new report from Syracuse.com. The ban applies to every courtroom in the state and comes after similar bans from some court systems in Pennsylvania, Hawaii, and Wisconsin. The New York ban appears to be the first in the U.S. that explicitly covers every court in a given state. The New York State Unified Court System didn’t immediately respond to questions about the ban, but Syracuse.com reports it will apply to any eyewear or headwear that contains recording devices, including either audio or video. Prescription glasses with the ability to record are also banned and anyone who arrives to court with them on will be required to leave them with court officers, according to the news outlet. It’s unclear whether any exemptions will be made for those with disabilities, but that seems unlikely.
Recording devices are already banned in many courts across the country, even if they haven’t yet explicitly called out smart glasses. Two people who showed up to court in Los Angeles, California, while wearing smart glasses this past February were admonished by the judge. Zuckerberg was testifying in a case that alleged Instagram was designed to be addictive to kids. Meta was ultimately found liable in that suit.
