Miscellaneous

Video Never Killed Anybody

By Anne Skove, Esq.

First we heard that the revolution would be televised. Then we heard that video killed the radio star. So which is it? What, exactly, does TV do to courts?

We're going to say: relax! Someone, somewhere, will play the O.J. card. The country started watching the O.J. event with the slow-chase and never let up. It was, by all definitions, notorious. Notorious trials have always been with us. The Scopes trial was immensely popular -- a century before Court TV was even a twinkle in anybody's eye. One might even guess that trials occurring before the TV age attracted even more attention -- they provided a form of infotainment not accessible by other means and captured the public's imagination in ways other events had not.

The critics of televised court proceedings are united. Even those who have less in common than Felix and Oscar are cozy as Kate and Allie. For example, it's rare for Justice Scalia and Simple Justice to agree on anything, but they are of one mind when it comes to opposing cameras in the courts.

There are rules in place. Witnesses and jurors can't be televised. Parties always have the option of moving for their very own version of TV turnoff week. If California -- with its swimming pools and movie stars -- can survive its Rule 980, so can the rest of the world.

See Florida Student Asks Scalia a Question -- and Gets Scolded, Tony Mauro, BLT (February 4, 2009).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on February 09, 2009 (boomark / email).