Peoria County Juvenile Court v. Hopkins [1]

Elaine Hopkins, a blogger from Peoriastory.com [2] and former newspaper reporter, sought to observe and cover a juvenile court hearing in Peoria, Illinois. After the assistant state's attorney Susan Lucas objected to Hopkins' presence in the courtroom, Judge Albert Purham, Jr. , citing Illinois' Juvenile Court Act, refused to allow Hopkins to remain in the courtroom for the proceedings, concluding that bloggers are not journalists under Illinois law.

Under the Illinois Juvenile Court Act [3], the general public, except for the "news media," are excluded from juvenile proceedings. See 705 ILCS 405/1-5 (6).

Hopkins reported on the incident in her blog [4], and the issue has received some sympathetic coverage in the local press. Hopkins did not take any legal action against the court or Judge Purham.