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Cameras Go To Court: A Study Of Television Cameras In State And Federal Courtrooms, Tonya Rochelle Beavert

Honors Theses

For several years there has been an ongoing dispute between members of the media and members of the legal community about television coverage of judicial proceedings. Members of the media tend to argue that they have a First Amendment right and responsibility to cover court proceedings as a representative of the people. Court officials tend to answer the media's assertion with the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees a defendant the right to a public trial by an impartial jury.

The problem that resulted from the dispute was whether the presence of cameras in the courtroom imposed on defendants' rights or whether …