On June 30, 1997, the experiment, initiated in 1987, that gave trial judges discretion to allow televised and still-camera coverage of civil and criminal trial court proceedings in New York State came to an end. After two years of investigation, a 12-member, state-appointed committee has issued its findings and recommendations on the question of cameras in New York courts. Their results are contained in An Open Courtroom.

This book offers: an introduction, executive summary; overview of the committee’s work; a summary of the current law; overview of camera laws in other states and in federal courts; summary of the committee’s record; the committee’s assessment and conclusions; recommendation; appendices which include the results of a jurist poll and the committee’s judicial survey, interviews, and other pertinent data; and a minority report/ dissent arguing against the committee’s recommendations.