The Watchful Eye: American Justice in the Age of the Television Trial.

Paul Thaler Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881. 264 pp., $18.95.

If you already have an opinion on camcras in the courtroom--and given the coverage of the O.J. Simpson case, it is hard to imagine you don't or won't--Pald Thaler's The Watchful Eye is unlikely to change your mind. This is not a criticism of the book but rather a consequence of the fact that neither side in the debate over televised court proceedings persuades completely.

Thaler points out that the media and other advocates of cameras in the courtroom argue that televised proceedings educate the public about the U.S. legal system. Yet, he rightfilly questions how viewers can learn about often complex or arcane topics from a 30-second or 2-minute news story. Television's "educational benefit" is further put in doubt by the medium's instinctive reporting of the most salacious testimony, reducing coverage to what Thaler calls "entertainment fare."

Opponents of televised proceedings say that the camera's watchful eye distorts reality, changes participants' behavior, and unfairly demonizes defendants. The constitutionally protected right to a fair trial is compromised, critics argue. But these claims are often based on little more than conjecture, evincing perhaps a bias against an uncontrolled agent (the media) or a fawning allegiance to the "dignity" of the justice system.

If the opponents of televised proceedings are correct, they need to explain why William Kennedy Smith was acquitted, Joel Steinberg was convicted of a lesser charge in the death of his young daughter, and the Menendez brothers were not convicted nanoseconds after the jury began deliberations. Each of these trials received tremendous media coverage, yet none of the defendants was steamrolled by the fury of the masses.

Quite by accident, Thaler's book has become incredibly timely. At publication, the author surely did not anticipate that a rich, handsome, sports icon who seemingly had it all would capture national attention by being charged with the brutal murders of his ex-wife and her friend. The media feeding frenzy spawned by this sensational case is foreseen by the book's description of media behavior in other cases, however.

Further stirring the debate over televised proceedings, the U.S. judicial Conference (27 federal judges who set policy) voted in September to ban cameras from all federal court proceedings, thus ending a three-year test of cameras in some courtrooms. It is noteworthy that the judges apparently ignored a survey of their colleagues that found "small or no effects of camera presence on participants in proceedings, courtroom decorum or the administration of justice." The federal judges also bucked the trend in the states, 47 of which now permit televised proceedings.

Given this background, Thaler's book does a good job of exploring both sides of the debate. Thaler does not reflexively side with the journalists, even though readers might think he would be so inclined since he is director of journalism and media at Mercy College in New York. Instead, he tries to shed light on whether television alters the attitudes, judgments, and behaviors of trial participants, and, if it does, how it might affect the relationship between the media and the courts. Thaler interviewed more than 50 journalists, academics, and trial participants for the book. By nature, the exploration relies on highly subjective impressions of all parties.

In Part One, Thaler provides the theoretical and historical background for cameras in the courts. One interesting observation is the difficulty in corralling this technological genie once it is out of the bottle and has taken root in the courtroom. The federal judges' recent decision defies the notion that television will not be kicked out of the courtroom once it is permitted inside. It remains to be seen whether the judges or Congress will eventually reverse the ban.

Another theme introduced in Part One but tangentially referred to throughout the book is that television news commercially exploits court proceedings. This may be true of 2-minute news stories that highlight the day's events. Interesting, lively stories are more likely to attract viewers. However, the same cannot be said for extended reports. Network executives know that extended coverage of O.J. Simpson's court proceedings during daytime programming may result in a huge audience, while at the same time preempting paid advertisements. If cameras fuel excessive news coverage, as the author posits, then the networks extend coverage at their own financial peril.

Part One also offers interesting accounts of the televised trials of Claus von Bulow, William Kennedy Smith, the Los Angeles police who beat Rodney King, and the Big Dan's Tavern rape case. Even more interesting, however, is the description of the birth and growth of the Courtroom Television Network (Court TV).

Some of Thaler's sources complain that Court TV relies on a moderator and "expert" attorneys to comment on and critique televised proceedings; that the network focuses on sensational trials; and that, at bottom, Court TV is simply a commercial venture. One critic, for example, argues that the camera angles and editing techniques used by Court TV distort the courtroom process, rather than enhance it. "The view from the television screen `is not what the jurors see,'" he adds.

But such paternalistic quibbling seems misplaced. Viewers, contrary to these critics, are not idiots who naively assume that everything they see on TV mirrors reality. Nor are they prone to believe every comment that comes out of the mouth of a so-called legal expert. Despite its detractors, Court TV has given viewers a better feel for the law and what occurs inside courtrooms, even when the "action" is sheer monotony.

Part Two of the book is a study of the televised proceedings in the Joel Steinberg case. Steinberg, a 46-year-old defense lawyer in New York City at the time of his arrest, was accused of beating his 6-year-old daughter, Lisa, to death. The primary witness against him was his live-in companion, Hedda Nussbaum, who Steinberg also allegedly beat. The television coverage of the trial was intense, and Nussbaum's testimony was carried live by the local network affiliates.

Thaler talked extensively with the judge, lawyers, jurors, witnesses, and Steinberg himself (who was convicted of first-degree manslaughter). Thaler also interviewed the media on its coverage. He delves into the conscious and unconscious effects that television coverage may have had on trial participants.

Interestingly, the judge, Harold Rothwax, was personally opposed to cameras in the courtroom before the trial began. But during the trial, he began to view the camera as just another type of court reporter. Though Rothwax and others felt the coverage may have actually put participants on their best behavior, the judge denied that cameras altered the way that he handled his courtroom.

The mosaic woven by the participants' impressions is extremely interesting, but not compelling. Predictably, the observations of the participants, from judge to jurors to Steinberg himself, are self-serving. Steinberg's lawyers claimed their out-of-court "news conferences" were necessary to rebut the prosecution's case (never mind that the defense could cross-examine prosecution witnesses and put on their own case). Nussbaum's attorney complained that his client's psychotic state on the right of Lisa's death did not come through during coverage of her testimony. And Steinberg argued that coverage of his case poisoned public opinion, making it impossible to get a fair trial. (Ted Bundy, the master manipulator and convicted murderer who has since been executed, made a similar claim.

But Thaler's exploration into the Steinberg case is nonetheless worth the effort (for both author and reader). It represents in microcosm the topics that define the debate over cameras in the courtroom. And when combined with Part One, the second half of the book creates a whole that the reader will appreciate. Aside from the few minor criticisms mentioned, The Watchful Eye successfully sheds light on a subject that is not given to neat resolutions.