There is controversy right now about whether or not trials, or even the Supreme Court cases should be televised. I believe we should! As soon as any Government action is done behind closed doors (even when spectators are permitted), there is room for misunderstanding and mistrust. Video recording is so easy and inexpensive now. In fact, I believe it would make sense to eliminate the "court reporter" and replace with video.
Many professional sports have adopted video replay to assist in making sure that the game is judged fairly. Why shouldn't American Justice take advantage of technology also?
I believe it is time to go one step further - to actually record the trial, and then have the jury view the video prior to making their decision. It is very difficult to get good jurors. Jurors end up wasting a lot of time because of the typical schedule of trials, and the times they are excused because of special hearings over the validity of evidence. When evidence is introduced to the Jury incorrectly, the Judge instructs the Jury to "disregard" that evidence--but is that even possible? Wouldn't it be more fair to have the complete trial recorded with all "non-admissible" evidence removed from the video. Then the Jurors could be selected and presented with the resulting video. If a retrial is necessary, the new jury could view the exact same video, or it could be edited as permitted by the judge, for new evidence, for example.
The whole process could then be made a public record for all citizens to view.
Yes the additional video equipment will add a small cost to each trial. However the cost to the Jurors will be much less since their time will be used more efficiently.
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