Source of article ComCon - Communication Consulting.

One decision on which many judges have exercised caution is whether to allow cameras in their courtrooms, fearing that cameras will diminish the perceived legitimacy of the courts. While many state supreme courts and three federal circuit courts currently allow cameras in their courtrooms at least some of the time (Kromphardt and Bolton, 2022), most federal appellate courts and a number of state supreme courts have chosen not to open their courts to cameras. Generally speaking, the appellate courts that prohibit cameras at oral argument allow audio recordings of the arguments (as opposed to blanket prohibition on any recordings at all). What happens to the perceived legitimacy of the courts when cameras, and not just audio recordings, are allowed in the courtroom? Black and colleagues (2023) conducted two experiments to examine the conditions under which cameras in the courtroom affect the perceived legitimacy of the courts. In the experiments, a total of 1,475 participants either watched or listened to a video clip of a real oral argument, after which they reported their views about the legitimacy of the courts….