After years of lobbying by British broadcasters, the United Kingdom justice system will now allow English cases outside of the Supreme Court to be filmed by cameras starting in October.
The decision follows in the footsteps of the United States, which first allowed filming of a trial in the 1990's when the O.J. Simpson murder case captivated the country, and had people glued to their TV sets.
There are mixed opinions on the subject of allowing camera access to courtrooms. People that are for the decision believe it will help broadcasters and reporters get information they can't access through online court documents and will take off some of the restrictions on what reporters are allowed to write about. Those that are against it worry about the affect that the cameras will have on the judges and lawyers in the court room.
One proponent of the idea of cameras in the court room is Richard Moorhead, a professor of law and ethics at University College London.
"For opening up justice, it is a risk worth taking," Moorhead said, according to Bloomberg News. "Judges will pay a little more attention to public opinion than they once did."
Reports indicate that U.K. courts are being filmed already as a test to see how the technology affects the judges, staff and lawyers during the courtroom trials. Cameras are expected to be fully in place in the U.K. Court of Appeal starting in October and access to sentencing rulings in criminal courts will be the next step for the filming.
Cameras in courtrooms first became popular when Simpson, an ex-professional football player, was on trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The U.S. audience was captivated as the trial went on, and one of the most memorable moments of the trial was Simpson's defense attorney, Johnnie Cochran, standing in front of the jury holding a glove and saying, "If it don't fit, you must acquit."
Simpson was acquitted in 1995, and from that point on, many people worried that lawyers may play to cameras in court.
Come October, the U.K. justice system will share that worry.
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