Turning the Camera on Court TV: Does Televising Trials Teach Us Anything About the Real Law?
Turning the Camera on Court TV: Does Televising Trials Teach Us Anything About the Real Law? ANGELIQUE M. PAUL* I. INTRODUCTION What people think about the law is important because ours is a "public opinion" society, "which makes heavy use of referenda, and in which government does not lift a finger or move a muscle without reading the tea leaves of public desire."' The public's perception of justice influences the courts, the laws, the judges, and essentially the democratic process. So what influences the public's perception of justice? Television. For the majority of Americans, television is the most important source of information, and for many it is the only source of information. 2 This is particularly true when it comes to gathering information about the law. Because the majority of Americans have had no personal experience with the legal system,3 and because the majority of Americans get their information about the world solely from television, 4 the portrayal of justice on television is extremely important not only to the continued viability of the legal system, but also to the individual's understanding of that system. Studies indicate that the * The author would like to thank her parents, David and Lynda Paul, for their unconditional love and support. I David A. Harris, The Appearance of Justice: Court TV, Conventional Television, and Public Undersandingof the Criminal Justice Sstem, 35 ARiz. L. REv. 785, 796 (1993) (quoting Lawrence Friedman, Law, Lawyers, and Popular Culture, 98 YALE L. J. 1579, 1597 (1989)). Friedman believes that the portrayal of the legal system in popular culture is important "because it ultimately helps shape the legal culture, which in turn influences the law itself." Id.
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