An Analysis of the Legality of Television Cameras Broadcasting Juror Deliberations in a Criminal Case

Abstract

Recently, ABC News broadcast the deliberations of several juries in capital murder cases into the living rooms of the American public. The latest judicial opinion to confront the problem of televising jury room deliberations in a capital criminal case took place in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The article surveys the applicable federal constitutional and statutory law, as well as state jurisprudence, relevant to the intrusion of television cameras into the jury room. Additionally, this article discusses recent Scottish and European case law addressing jury deliberation as a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Keywords: Jury, deliberation, television, criminal, prosecutions, procedures, federal, state

JEL Classification: K40, K41, K14