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The Casey Anthony Trial: ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

Jun 25, 2011
By .
Law

Sixteen years ago, during the Simpson trial, I used to walk past Camp O.J. on my way to lunch. The dove-sellers-in-the-temple were hawking bumper stickers, banners, flags, and t-shirts — many, many t-shirts. I distinctly remember one of them: it had the word "sidebars" in a circle with a line through it. The vendor grokked a key complaint of viewers — they hated it when questioning stopped and Judge Ito entertained some legal argument away from the microphones. That one word and symbol neatly encapsulated the dominant mindset of the audience at the Simpson circus: that the function of a trial is to entertain, and that anything that is not cinematic is objectionable.

Nothing's changed. Turn on one of the cable networks, or click the #CaseyAnthony hashtag on Twitter, and you'll see that the circus is back in town.

If the wall-to-wall coverage were calculated to educate citizens about how the criminal justice system works, warts and all — or if the public fascination reflected a concern with rights and procedures, rather than reality-show drama — then this could be a good thing. But it's not — it's not even close. Television and radio coverage are choked with inanity, rank speculation, dumbed-down generalizations, and sound-bite-spewing legal-generalist "experts." The result is a relentless promotion of disinformation and ignorance, and very little useful education about constitutional and statutory rights or trial practice. That's the natural and probable consequence of a media culture that profits from wall-to-wall coverage when the circus is in town. They've got to fill up all those hours with something. They've got to make mundane developments sound earth-shattering and routine courtroom maneuvers sound devious, outrageous, or brilliant. They've got to make it sound like their talking heads have unique insights that viewers can't get on any other channel — which requires them to generate hours of useless and misleading speculation. Want to know what's going to happen next, or what the judge or jury are thinking, or what the defense strategy is? You'd be better off looking for the answers by rooting around in the entrails of a sheep than listening to the average cable-channel "expert."

If the media is acting badly, their audience is worse. If you can stomach it, check out the #CaseyAnthony Twitter feed. It has all the charm of a depraved and demi-literate crowd hooting at a hanging. Today, when court was abruptly adjourned, the criminal-justice-is-here-to-entertain-me attitude was paramount:

@ashleebella: "#Caseyanthony trial is infuriating me right now -Thankyou! Im so mad 2. Why are they putting this pretty girl through this?"

@5tephertiti: "Relieved #caseyanthony trial didn't happen today so I wouldn't miss anything. I never want it to end."

@dnllmchll: "Part of the reason I'm excited to have the next 3 days off of work is the #caseyanthony trial… Shits so crazy."

@robrff: "If I've watched all this #CaseyAnthony trial and a plea deal or mis-trial is called, and there is no jury verdict, I'm not going to be happy"

@RAWss23: "Must b something big today in the #caseyanthony trial…court is in recess allday no explanation, now wat am I supossed to watch? :( "

(Not to mention the deep legal insight:)

@bluejean24: "Why doesnt Caylee have a lawyer to protect her interests #caseyanthony" "Are you as pissed off as I am that they did not hold court today? #CaseyAnthony/ YES!"

@scout35: "Check out this video… a dog's reaction to #CaseyAnthony!"

What I'm saying may sound like a you-kids-get-off-my-lawn old-man rant, but it's not merely a rant about entertainment culture — it's also the impact of that culture on the criminal justice system that protects citizens from their government. The trial-as-circus ethos has any number of regrettable effects:

1. Promotion of ignorance: The circus culture encourages the media to offer sound-bite-based, exciting, controversial, and "interesting" explanations for complex issues. Those explanations are rarely complete, accurate, or fair. The media therefore promotes ignorance about the criminal justice system — the mechanism by which some of our most important rights are determined.

2. Promotion of Unquestioned Government Power: The circus culture naturally seeks swift, exciting, simple resolution — like the bad guy being caught, conclusively proved guilty, and punished in the 42 minutes of a TV drama. The media coverage encourages that attitude — and therefore encourages citizens to be impatient of anything that's not cinematic and angry at anything that seems to interfere with a 42-minute resolution. But "swift and cinematic" favors unquestioning acceptance of government claims, not careful testing of the sufficiency of government evidence, and certainly not respect for rights or the rule of law. The trial-as-circus culture promoted by the media for its own financial benefit is all about promoting the age-old "tough on crime" mindset that constitutional and statutory rights are merely devices by which sleazy defense lawyers evade justice.

3. Promotion of Misconduct: The trial-as-circus atmosphere, with its attendant big money, brings the nuts, the con artists, and the crooks out of the woodwork. Crazy people show up claiming to be witnesses. Minor witnesses exaggerate or change what they saw in pursuit of their fifteen minutes and a book deal. Lawyers abandon their ethical duties in pursuit of a quick buck.

One of the state's most formidable powers is its ability to imprison or even kill a citizen by accusing that citizen of a crime. Sometimes the state gets it right, and imprisons people who did what they are accused of doing. Other times the state relies on bad evidence or panic about kids, and gets it wrong. How do we know which is which? We have to respect the rule of law and rely upon competent professionals — including vigorous and capable defense attorneys — to apply it. By promoting trial-as-circus, the media and the madding crowd are undermining the rule of law. They're doing it for money and attention (in the case of the media) and entertainment (in the case of the crowd). They ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Last 5 posts by Ken

9 Comments
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9 Comments

  1. firehat  •  Jun 25, 2011 @6:57 pm

    So is there a solution? I'm cynical enough to say no, we are doomed.

  2. Brad Warbiany  •  Jun 25, 2011 @9:31 pm

    I think that's a typical reaction. If you are an expert in *any* subject, reading popular reaction to that subject is excruciating.

    The key to turning off mainstream news is realizing that when they butcher your own subject of expertise as badly as they do, they're likely butchering all their other reporting just as badly.

  3. Diane backus  •  Jun 26, 2011 @4:28 am

    I am fascinated by this trial based on the alleged crime and what is known about the defendant. I too am sickened by the "reporting" that is taking place. As a layperson, I long for honest, unbiased, professional insight about the case and the inner workings of our system as they relate to the case. I am sure I am not alone. Short of going to law school, what options do we have? This country is rooted in graft, corruption, and the almighty dollar.
    I was looking for a non-sensationalist blog on the trial when I found yours. Can you give me any leads?

  4. shg  •  Jun 26, 2011 @5:26 am

    I'm curious why you feel compelled to disclaim any perception that your opinion reflects a "you-kids-get-off-my-lawn old-man rant." Do you fear that the young and cool will no longer accept you as one of their own? Does it embarrass you to realize that you are becoming an advocate for more traditional value, such as personal honesty and intgrity?

    More often than not, the cool, new things aren't particularly worthy, but just a realignment of hemlines, change for its own sake reflecting childish rebellion. There's nothing wrong with maturing to the point of seeing issues more clearly and no longer being a slave to cool. Don't apologize for having opinions, even if they don't conform with the latest, cutting edge views.

  5. C. S. P. Schofield  •  Jun 26, 2011 @6:35 am

    If it is any comfort Circus Trials are not new, and do not seem to be getting markedly worse. I grew up reading collections of old New Yorker authors' work (Thurber, etc.) and so I ran into essays about Circus Trials from the 1920's and 1930's. I remember when outrage about the Simpson trial was very in vogue with a certain brand of self-styled intellectual. None of them were prepared to see that if you design a justice system to cope with that kind of celebrity-trial bullsh*t, you get a justice system that is unable to deal with day-to-day cases fairly. You get – so to say – a tank that causes more trouble than it is worth on every day roads.

  6. Dan Weber  •  Jun 26, 2011 @6:54 am

    Maybe we need to ban cameras from the courtroom? There are First Amendment tensions with that, but maybe it'd be for the best.

  7. Carla  •  Jun 26, 2011 @7:12 am

    Thank you! I am blissfully ignorant of this trial for all of the reasons you outlined. I can't stand the circus and the pretend drama of this or any other 'news' story, besides I have my own life to pay attention.

  8. John Burgess  •  Jun 26, 2011 @11:10 am

    bLAWg, bLOG, BLAHg by FL attorney Richard Hornsby is pretty solid. He has been critiquing the prosecution, defense, the judge, and the media evenhandedly. It's sometimes seriously 'inside baseball', but it's comprehensible to non-lawyers.

  9. marco73  •  Jun 27, 2011 @7:07 am

    This trial has been excruciating for locals. All day, local news will break into programming with whatever inane comments their experts have, with film at 11.
    I watch the beginning of the 11 evening news just for some local weather, and maybe a Rays highlight. Saturday, the judge ended for the day after only a few minutes, with apparently zero witnesses and some lawyers waving around papers. Ho hum.
    But the public was up in arms! Somehow it was the Lead Story that people who had driven all night, and waited in line since early morning to get a seat, only got a couple minutes of their girl, and then court was out for the day. The outrage! The umbrage!
    There is another local story that the media is almost completely ignoring. A home invasion, 2 teens killed, 2 more teens arrested for the crime. After the initial sensational coverage the night of the murders, and with a short follow up of the arrests, this story is nowhere to be found. But since the 4 people involved are not pretty white girls, no story here, move along.