Do cameras influence courtroom proceedings? What effect, if any, do they have on trial participants? What implications do televised trials have on due process? Why have the courts, including the Supreme Court, traditionally excluded cameras? What, in short, is the future of the camera in the courtroom? Through interviews with numerous legal scholars, judges, attorneys, defendants, jurors, witnesses, and journalists, these questions and many others are thoroughly examined. The impact of the cameras in several high-profile trials is analyzed, as are a number of cases in which cameras were excluded. A look at Court TV provides an instructive overview of the good and bad of television coverage. Includes an updated preface and a new introduction.
This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the free press-fair trial debate over news cameras in the courtroom--one that discusses the issue from a historical, legal, and social scientific perspective. It incorporates the key aspects of the debate in one volume, examining witness privacy and protection, defendant reputation, the purported educational benefits of televising trials, the coverage of trials from an entertainment or voyeurisitic perspective, and whether any proposed benefits of televising trials are negated by potential negative costs to the participants involved or the audience in general.
The issue of whether or not to allow video cameras into the courtroom has been discussed and debated by Members of Congress, the legal community, journalists, and the public since the introduction of newsreel films in the early 20th century. Technological advances have shifted some of the considerations in this ongoing dialogue, as newsreel cameras gave way to television cameras and Internet video. Increasingly, new technology makes video recording less disruptive, accessible to more people, and able to be distributed quickly, if not instantaneously. Most state courts, and several international supreme courts, allow video cameras to record and televise, or otherwise broadcast, their proceedings under certain circumstances. This book is not intended to provide a legal analysis of court cases relevant to the use of video cameras in federal courtrooms. This book provides information about the current judicial policies and attitudes related to video camera use in the U.S. Supreme Court, federal circuit courts, and federal district courts; summaries of the major debates and considerations for policymakers on the subject of courtroom cameras, including the appropriateness of congressional action, standards for public and media access to the courts, and potential effects on courtroom proceedings; descriptions of the four legislative proposals currently before the 114th Congress, including the Cameras in the Courtroom Act (H.R. 94 and S. 780), the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act (H.R. 917 and S. 783), the Transparency in Government Act (H.R. 1381), and the Eyes on the Courts Act (H.R. 3723); and complementary policy measures that might accomplish similar objectives.
Detailed descriptions of each step of the judicial process along with tips from top journalists allow for a comprehensive analysis of courtroom activities. Visit our website for sample chapters!
