A few good reasons for allowing cameras in the courtroom
Dear Doctor:
My boyfriend Jim isn’t such a big deal. He plays a little guitar but really isn’t so hot. He told me he’s waiting for something big to happen. He says that this country owes him a lot more than he’s getting. I keep telling him that he ought to get some higher education so he can make something of his life but he says that professors are nothing but elite brain washers, usually with a left wing perspective. He particularly hates your guts. He says that you are a pompous know it all. He thinks that the people in government are interested primarily in their own lives and not those of “us beer swilling common folks.” Now he’s on a tear because the top judges on the New York State Court of Appeals won’t let him watch the same criminal trials you can see pretty much anywhere else in the country. Doctor, since Jim has nothing to do all day long, (sometimes he helps get the beer that only he drinks), he says that he really needs these televised criminal trials and he’s seriously ticked off at the judges who won’t allow him to watch them.
I secretly think watching all these other guys being brought to justice makes him feel superior. After all, he may be a slug but at least he’s not in jail. He loves to see corporate big shots being brought to justice. He also likes it when murderers and thieves get their due. I told Jimmy that I was sure that there were good reasons not to allow public trials. My problem is that I just can’t think of them.
Doctor, I have two questions. First, what should I do about Jimmy? I really need someone more like you. Are you available? I am not a bad looking woman. The second question: What should I tell Jimmy about cameras in the courtroom?
Please sign me “West Side Wendy.”

Dear Wendy:
Thanks for your letter. You and I both know that you have to throw that lazy lout out on his butt. Judging from all the beer consumption, that butt must be quite large indeed. As for your kind invitation, unfortunately, I am spoken for by my wife, The Lovely Roselle, who is a professor, writes books and takes care of all of us. You need someone younger and more, well, virile - probably taller and with less of a receding hairline.
Now as to cameras in the courtroom, I hate to say it but Jimmy may be right, albeit for the wrong reasons. What we don’t need is yet another spectacle to make the haters and malingerers feel better about themselves. That sort of thing has been going on since the Romans threw poor unfortunates into the arena to be eaten by the lions. From that perspective, offering the Jimmys of the world hours of televised trials distracts them from the more important issues.
On the other hand, there is a real argument to be made for allowing cameras in our courtrooms. Almost all the states in this country, other than New York, allow them. The whole concept of democracy is based on allowing people to see for themselves what goes on. Then when questions like funding the judiciary, or whether or not to approve the death penalty, or even the fairness of our system and the qualifications of judges, are raised, the people can tell their legislators what to do. Plus, if people do watch trials, they will know that we hold people responsible for their criminal actions. That will certainly affect the crime rate. Jurors and witnesses who may be afraid of retaliation can be protected. Of course, you can’t tell me that in a big Mafia trial, the mob doesn’t put people in court to see for themselves who’s saying what.
The Court of Appeals said that making this decision was not their responsibility but that of the Legislature. For their part, the Legislature has been making the right noises. I hate to say it but the Republican Senate is better on this issue than the Assembly. The Assembly says that they are ready to do it but somehow it hasn’t been done yet. I like Shelly Silver, the fiery speaker who has shown so much guts on other things, and I have faith that he’ll tell the trial lawyers that they have nothing to be afraid of. I’m not so sure that the judges are all that happy about being on TV. Some of them who are club house appointments might have to take elocution lessons.
In the end, I suspect that the people want this, maybe for the wrong reasons, and my bet is that they’ll get what they want. After all, we have experimented with televised trials and it seemed to work out fine. Meanwhile, Wendy, get your life together and throw the bum out. He couldn’t kiss your shoes.


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- posted by Sarah @ 7/05/2005 07:32:00 AM