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Judge Kozinski says we need cameras in the courtroom

And I wholeheartedly agree. From the Above the Law post on his comments:

Kozinski started his talk by going over some of the arguments he has made before [PDF] in support of cameras (e.g., studies show cameras don?t affect the proceedings, quoting his ?old boss? Warren Burger ? ?People in an open society do not demand infallibility from their institutions, but it is difficult for them to accept what they are prohibited from observing.?).
It wouldn?t be like the O.J. trial, which decidedly set the cameras-in-the-courtroom movement back. Kozinski advocates stationary cameras that would not zoom in, zoom out, or otherwise overly dramatize the courtroom events. Kozinski acknowledged that if you were to choose between a O.J. media circus or reports from informed journalists like Nina Totenberg or Linda Greenhouse, one might be happy to live without cameras.
But that?s not usually the choice one has. Kozinski pointed to the ?long, slow decline of the newspaper industry? and the ?rise of a much more diffuse style of coverage? as a major reason why cameras should be brought into courtrooms. Increasingly, the public is relying on ?pseudo-journalists? (aka bloggers) for their instantaneous legal news.
?On the Internet, the loudest voice gets the most attention,? said Kozinski, who said that tends to lead to a distortion of the coverage of a case. He also raised the risks of relying on unknown bloggers, pointing to the case of ?Dr. Flea.?

Someone explain to me why our federal courtrooms should be closed to the public.

Full post as published by Southern District of Florida on April 29, 2010 (boomark / email).