Let the camera’s eye into court

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Updated: March 3, 2012 11:39AM

The Lindbergh kidnapping trial in 1935 in New Jersey spooked the nation’s legal system into nearly permanent camera shyness. The idea that cameras recording the conduct of courts had been widely accepted until then.

But the trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann for the kidnapping and murder of “Lucky Lindy’s” infant son was a gruesome circus, with hundreds of reporters and photographers and newsreel cameras whirring. The nation recoiled. The rules were changed.

In Illinois, the ban was loosened in 1983 when news cameras were allowed in the Supreme Court and the appellate court, but they remained prohibited in the trial courts.

Over the years, the ban generated a whole series of thin rationalizations on why trial courts should not be open to public scrutiny. No evidence has sustained those concerns.

Now the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that on an experimental basis, each of Illinois’ 23 state court districts can apply to have media cameras present for civil and criminal trials involving adult defendants. If the pilot program is successful, Illinois could be the 37th state to change its mind about courtroom cameras.

Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans said he will apply for the program, but his Will County counterpart, Gerald Kinney, seems somewhat reticent, saying it “could take several months to draft protocols.” What? We don’t think it should take that long, and we urge Kinney to join Evans in moving expeditiously to allow the cameras.

Illinois is not breaking new ground on this issue and has examples from 36 other states on how to implement an effective system. We have been behind the curve for decades on a trend to openness that began in the 1970s. Illinois has not even raised the subject for about 30 years.

The courts do their business in our name with our authority, and they answer to us for their fairness. It’s about time to increase their openness and accountability and to show citizens what a trial really looks like.

Even if most of them are left disappointed that it’s not nearly as dramatic or exciting as what they see on TV.