CHAPTER V
CRIMINAL AND CIVIL COURTS
Type of story. As all forms of judicial procedure are included under court news, stories of this class cover such matters as police court news, criminal trials, civil suits, divorce suits, bankruptcy, wills and other probate court matters, decisions of higher courts, and findings of judicial officers. Since much court news is of a routine character, the matter-of-fact informative news story is a frequent medium for presenting it. This does not imply that such news is necessarily dry and uninteresting, for by bringing out salient and significant phases of such matters as decisions of higher courts, legal documents, wills, and bankruptcy cases, as well as of criminal and civil suits, the facts of the news can be made of interest even to the casual reader (cf. “Supreme Court Decision,” p. 88, and “Opinion of Attorney General,” p. 90). Criminal and civil cases often have a strong human interest element that, if rightly developed, may be a valuable part of the story (cf. “Criminal Court,” p. 83, and “Supreme Court Decision,” p. 89). The little comedies and tragedies of the police court have long been favorite subjects for entertaining and appealing human interest stories (cf. “Municipal Court,” p. 78, and “Forgery Case,” p. 78).
Purpose. To give fair and accurate publicity to significant phases of the administration of justice is the obvious reason for the publication of court news. Court proceedings, like those of legislative bodies, are activities of important branches of government and hence are matters of public concern. In reporting sessions of these bodies, the writer’s aim should be to direct the reader’s attention to those details of the proceedings (1) that are significant to him personally, (2) that affect the interests of the community, and (3) that relate to the welfare of society as a whole.
The wide-spread publicity given by newspapers to the punishment inflicted on wrong-doers tends to deter others from similar illegal acts, and thus aids in accomplishing the chief object of punishment. “The wages of sin is publicity,” as one editor has expressed it. What has been said of the value of constructive stories of crime applies with equal force to stories of criminal trials.
Destructive, or anti-social, influences, opposed to the best interests of organized society, are found in those court stories—particularly those of criminal and divorce cases—that play up disgusting or scandalous phases of such trials in order to gratify the morbid taste of some of their readers. Another evil connected with the newspaper’s treatment of court news is the so-called “trying the case in the newspaper” by means of news stories and editorials published before or during a trial. Some newspapers undertake to prove the innocence or the guilt of an accused person by printing whatever evidence they can secure, even though some of it would be excluded from the trial under the rules of evidence. In this way they create public opinion and arouse public feeling to such an extent as to prevent the accused person’s having the fair trial to which he is entitled.
Treatment of material. To find matters of general significance and interest, particularly when they are buried in legal technicalities and verbiage, and to present them clearly and attractively without sacrificing accuracy, are the main problems in handling court news. The task is not an easy one, but it is worth doing well, for court news, if well treated, can be made interesting and significant even to the casual reader.
The body of court news stories usually consists of summaries of arguments, decisions, testimony, or legal documents, or of excerpts from them, with the necessary connective material. In some instances the story is largely a history of the case or action and of the persons involved. The lead is usually determined by the status of the case. Any one of the important points may be made the feature.
Testimony in news stories is given in one of three forms: (1) the question indicated by “Q” and the answer by “A,” both question and answer given in one paragraph without quotation marks, (2) the question and the answer in quotation marks, each followed by the necessary explanatory matter and each in a separate paragraph, like verbatim conversation in fiction, (3) a summary of the testimony of each witness in indirect quotation form, with the name of the witness at or near the beginning of the first sentence of the summarized testimony.
Contents of story. Because of the variety of material presented by different kinds of court news, it is difficult to indicate specifically the points to be considered in each story. Among the important details, however, are (1) the verdict and the conditions under which it was rendered, (2) the sentence imposed, (3) the decision rendered and its significance, (4) important testimony, (5) net results of the day’s proceedings in a trial, (6) the history of the case or action, (7) provisions of a will, (8) liabilities, assets, and cause in bankruptcy, (9) the award, or finding, (10) the grounds on which a suit is based.