Starting July 20, 2026, anyone walking into a New York State courthouse with smart glasses on (Meta’s Ray-Ban line or any similar device carrying a camera, microphone, or onboard processor) will need to hand them over to a court officer at the door before going any further.
The directive comes from a July 1, 2026, Memorandum issued by the New York State Office of Court Administration, making New York the first state in the country to impose this kind of sweeping, systemwide restriction, reaching every level of the state’s court system.
The scope is intentionally wide. It reaches lawyers, parties to a case, witnesses, relatives sitting in the gallery, court staff, and ordinary visitors alike. Even smart glasses fitted with prescription lenses are banned. Anyone with prescription smart glasses should plan to carry a spare set of ordinary prescription glasses for the day.
Why the Rule Exists
Court officials frame the restriction as a safeguard against covert recording that would run afoul of New York’s civil rights protections. Attention to the issue spiked earlier this year after security personnel accompanying Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg showed up wearing smart glasses at his trial in California, leading the judge overseeing the case to caution everyone in the room that anyone caught recording would face a finding of contempt. New York’s approach takes what had been an ad hoc, judge-by-judge call and turns it into a fixed statewide policy. Pennsylvania’s First Judicial District and the Western District and Milwaukee County Court of Wisconsin have imposed similar restrictions, and a number of federal district courts already fold smart glasses into their existing rules on electronic devices.
The Counterarguments Are Worth Noting
Smartphones, which are arguably easier to use for hidden recording because they lack any visible indicator light, remain welcome in nearly every courthouse in the country. Legal trade press covering the New York rule has also raised a genuine accessibility issue: growing numbers of people rely on smart glasses for live captioning or on-the-fly translation, and an across-the-board ban risks placing an outsized burden on clients and court participants who depend on those features. Expect this tension to keep generating debate, with courts and bar associations likely needing to work out accommodation procedures as the policy plays out in practice.
What It Means Going Forward
A few practical implications are worth considering for clients and counsel:
- Enforcement will evolve. Right now, spotting the devices at the door depends on a court officer recognizing them by sight. As smart glasses come to look more like ordinary frames, courts will probably have to shift toward some form of technical detection rather than leaning on an officer’s eye alone. That assumes, of course, that the prohibition stays in place.
- The rule addresses the courtroom, not the courthouse periphery. Other interactions just outside the building sit beyond what the rule can reach. Counsel shouldn’t treat the policy as eliminating recording risk; it simply might move that risk elsewhere. Don’t be surprised if parties start addressing where these devices are or aren’t allowed as part of litigation itself, including in stipulations and confidentiality agreements that bar these devices from depositions, meet-and-confer sessions, or other litigation-related events.
- Compliance failures may have downstream consequences. Getting caught breaking the rule could carry real downstream effects. If it later comes out that a juror or witness recorded proceedings despite the ban, that fact could feed into a procedural challenge. In sensitive or high-profile matters, attorneys should be ready to flag this risk for their clients.
- Plan ahead for accessibility needs. Anyone who relies on smart glasses for captioning or translation will have to line up another accommodation in advance.
We’ll keep watching how courts apply this rule in practice and whether any formal accommodation process emerges for people who depend on these devices for accessibility. For now, anyone heading into a New York courthouse should either leave smart glasses at home or be ready to check them in at security
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The Commercial Litigation Update blog is currently edited by Jennifer O'Connor and Adam Paine.
