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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 4-page paper discusses the biases and misinformation inherent when it comes to cameras in the courtroom. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
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4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_MTmedicour.rtf
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lawyers, judges and observers have questioned the marriage between cameras and courts (Shoop and Lassiter, 1995). The first major trial televised was that in 1935, when Bruno Richard Hauptmann ended
up on trial for the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby (Roschwalb, 1994). The case of the century, as it was then dubbed, carried with it horrible national and
international notoriety (Roschwalb, 1994). Hauptmann was found guilty, he appealed - and though the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals stated that few convictions would stand if major trials
continued to be targeted by "intense media coverage," the court didnt overrule the sentence (Roschwalb, 1994). Hauptmann was electrocuted, still declaring his innocence. But given the publicity of the trial,
and the bias already against Hauptmann, one would have wondered what might have happened if the jury had come back with verdict of not guilty.
But television cameras in the courtroom have an inherent tension. On the one hand, there is definitely the publics right - and in many cases, need -
to know. On the other hand, television cameras have a tendency to turn courtrooms into circuses, in which judges are playing to cameras and even legal counsel is turning the
wheels of justice into a farcical performance (Defense attorneys Johnny Cochrans "if it doesnt fit, you must acquit" was one of those smarmy catchphrases that did a good job of
turning the mid-1990s O.J. Simpson murder trial into a spectacle). So far from being the informative device to the public, cameras in
the courtroom have ended up turning those courtrooms - and the legal system itself - into a new daytime drama series, rather than a thoughtful presentation of legal issues.
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