Crime and Justice in the Age of Court TV (Criminal Justice)

This book seeks to provide useful and relevant information to aid judges, lawyers, legal scholars, media groups and the public at large in making decisions about the appropriateness of permitting live electronic coverage of courtroom trials both as a general rule and in individual cases. To aid in the discussion of cameras in the courtroom, this book focuses on the electronic trial coverage conducted by the Courtroom Television Network (Court TV).

The question that this book raises is whether public information about trials is to come solely from second-hand summaries on the news, "spin control" press conferences, prejudicial and inflammatory characterizations by interested third parties; or whether the public will be permitted, as well, to observe the entirety of the actual in-court proceedings under the control of the Court. Openness of public institutions, including the judiciary, is a key ingredient in our democracy.