Should trials be broadcast on TV?

[beth]

my voyeuristic side says yes, because i know i'd love watching them but the more logical side of me doesn't think they should be screened at all. everything is so trivialised nowadays through media and i wouldn't want the judicial system to go that way too. it'd end up like jeremy kyle, people wanting their trials to be on tv and society shouldn't be like that.

[JoeyK.]

No i think it should all be kept private. Yes i agree it would make great TV if they were to broadcast some of the more serious crimes etc. But i think to show such things on TV is very insensitive, there's a victim and their family to think about. But not only that, what ever happened to the phrase 'Innocent until proven guilty', why should someone's face be splashed over the TV and everything when they haven't even been proven guilty yet.

I think the system in which the media publishes information about suspects in crimes is very wrong already, i don't think they should be allowed to publish the name, picture or any personal information about a person until they have been proven guilty. There have been many cases in the last year where people have been cleared of all charges but yet for weeks before they have been made out to be evil in the papers (that nurse accused of injecting saline drips with insulin and that landlord who was accused of killing that woman around christmas, both innocent people who were vilified by the press). It ruins peoples lives.

I mean the recent case with Amanda Knox basically sums this up, she's been splashed all over the TV for ages now and with her recent trial it has basically all been shown on TV. She has now been cleared of all charges and so in the eyes of the law she is innocent, but yet she has made out to be a complete devil.

You actually bring up a very interesting point. If someone is proven 'not guilty' and is let off, there is always the chance that a 'vigilante' will go after them and try to enforce their own justice, even if they do not have all of the facts.

[DPS]

Yes we should, it would be good TV.

[Ardemax]

You can just go and see a trial if you are really that fussed, right there, live, no adverts, no hassle, money back guarantee.

[GommeInc]

You can just go and see a trial if you are really that fussed, right there, live, no adverts, no hassle, money back guarantee.

You don't even have to pay, even better It's like the BBC, except no license fee

[Ardemax]

You don't even have to pay, even better It's like the BBC, except no license fee

No win no fee! The only problem is, you can't really change the channel if the law proceedings start to get a bit tedious...

[Shockwave.2CC]

Depends what the person has done
Like if it was just driving to fast, then no
Murder then yes
and so on

[Ardemax]

Depends what the person has done
Like if it was just driving to fast, then no
Murder then yes
and so on

What? You want murder trials shown on TV?

The thread is pretty much based on things like murder and not really about less serious crimes.

Imo, it would be even more devastating for the justice system.