Wpg Sun: Courtroom cameras not a sure-fire solution

Two Faulty of Law professors gave comment to the Winnipeg Sun about a new pilot project that will bring video cameras into Manitoba courtrooms for the first time.

As part of the article reads:

“That I’m not so optimistic about,” assistant professor David Milward said. “Maybe they’ll see something of a judge taking a mitigating factor into account but, at the end of the day, I’m not sure how much persuasion power that’s going to have with the people who see it.”

Colleague Bryan Schwartz suggested it could alter behaviours of some participants.

“If I knew my classes I taught in law school were being televised, it might affect the way I carry on,” he said. “I might be more cautious about speaking frankly about certain manners, exploring certain ideas, but that doesn’t mean a witness is. From my own experience, would it have potential impact? I think it would.”