[JURIST] The New York State Court of Appeals upheld on Thursday a lower court ruling [text] that the state's ban on cameras in trial courtrooms is constitutional. The appeals court ruled [PDF text] that the legislature has the final say on allowing cameras or not, and that banning them does not violate the constitutional guarantee of access to trials. New York state temporarily allowed trial courtroom cameras in 1987, but that grant expired and was not renewed [JURIST report] in 1997. AP has more. All states now allow cameras in some courts, but which courts are open to cameras varies greatly [state-by-state chart]. Federal courts are almost completely closed to cameras; the District of Columbia bans cameras from all courts.