Lights! Cameras! Justice!

Cameras in American courtrooms have been a touchy subject since the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping trial of the 1930s, when newsreel and newspaper photographers disrupted the courtroom. In the federal district court trial over Proposition 8, the citizen-passed ballot initiative that made same-sex marriage illegal in California, the judge wanted the trial televised but the defendants (those wanting Prop. 8 to be upheld) successfully petitioned to keep cameras out of the courtroom. The judge argued that justice should be open for the public to see, while the defense said that witnesses and other could be placed in danger if their identity was known.

So we are left with sketchbook artists and reporters in the courtroom leading to newspaper articles and TV interviews conducted on the courthouse steps. That's the traditional way of covering trials.

But here's something new. A group aligned with the plaintiffs (those who want Prop. 8 to be overturned) wants to recreate the trial with actors performing off of the trial transcript. Sounds like a really looong miniseries to Your Humble Blogger, but maybe one with historical significance.