Back in 1970 when I was taking Journalism at the University of New Mexico, the subject of cameras in the courtroom came up and most, if not all, of my classmates were all for it. I disagreed and said it would turn trials into circuses. Over the years, that's what I've seen starting with the O.J. Simpson fiasco.
The Lindsay Clancy trial is further proof of that and now with the addition of 24-hour-a-day social media judgement, it’s gotten worse. For a retrial, the wagging tongues of today’s keyboard lemmings will make finding an unbiased jury that much harder and inured views will only shape the taunting gauntlet of onlookers jurors will eventually have to pass through in order to get to court.
It may look old fashioned when pen-and-ink drawings of what’s going on in court are presented to the public at the end of the day but I think that way leads to less of a public lynching and more to a solemn verdict. Certainly this can only spark more use of the insanity plea to escape justice now that we’ve seen its effectiveness on public opinion.
One man took the wrath of a nation by standing against 11 jurors who wanted to let this probable child murderer go. One juror. That's the way our system of justice was set up for good or bad. It's worked for 250 years, it'll work for another 250 years.
by © Clyde James Aragon - All Rights Reserved
