Judges on Demand: The Cognitive Case for Cameras in the Courtroom

Abstract

In 2011, the federal district courts began a pilot program to record and post full-length videos from selected civil proceedings. The program was deliberately structured to preserve the quality and integrity of ongoing adjudication. Three-and-a-half years in, the program has revealed an equally important, and unanticipated, benefit: improving the quality and integrity of future adjudication. This essay describes this second benefit and explains why the pilot program should be extended beyond its scheduled sunset in July 2015.

Keywords: Federal courts, cameras in the courtroom, Judicial Conference of the United States, law and cognition, civil litigation

JEL Classification: K40, K41