MARK KIESLING: Indiana needs to follow Illinois' courtroom lead

Illinois is in conflict over entering the 20th century.

This at a time when Indiana more or less flat out refuses.

Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride has begun a pilot program under which counties may opt into a camera-in-the-courtroom experiment.

Indiana has steadfastly refused to allow cameras in courtrooms, although Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard last week approved a pilot program to let The Times Media Co. webcast from three civil courtrooms in Lake County with the consent of participants and a two-hour delay.

Shepard is retiring in March, and who knows whether his legacy will carry on?

In Illinois, it is far more broad. The entire state is open to the program, although individual jurisdictions must apply.

For example, Cook County Circuit Court Chief Justice Timothy Evans has embraced Kilbride's proposal and said he will apply to be considered.

If successful, this will leave only 13 states that still ban cameras in courtrooms, if we include Indiana.

To some, cameras in the court will always call up memories of the 1995 murder trial of former football great O.J. Simpson.

It was a circus. Late night talk show host Jay Leno regularly parodied the judge in the case, Lance Ito, with a skit that included a Folies Bergere-style group called the Dancing Itos.

Cook County Public Defender Abishi C. Cunningham Jr., a former judge, has expressed skepticism about the use of cameras in courtrooms, arguing that the right of a defendant to a fair trial outweighs the right of the media to present visual and audio coverage.

He's right to a point, but I think both the arguments of Kilbride and Evans carry the day.

We've come a long way since 1994. Kilbride lives in the Quad Cities area on the Iowa border, and Iowa has had cameras in courtrooms since 1979. He said he has seen little to no detrimental effect on the ability of a defendant (or a victim for that matter) to get a fair trial.

Evans said he'd like to see more "transparency" in the court process. It's not all "Perry Mason" or "Law and Order," he said, and the public needs to see in essence how the sausage is made before they are asked to eat it.

I think our judges and lawyers, and even our witnesses, have become far more sophisticated when it comes to the coverage.

While there might be a temptation to play to the camera, to become a 15-minute media celebrity, it's become less and less likely.

Now that Illinois has announced its decision to go with this pilot program — and that's all it is right now — it's time for Indiana to get out of the horse-and-buggy era and follow the lead of 37 other states.

The Times' project is the first step in the right direction.

The opinions are solely those those of the writer. He can be reached at mark.kiesling@nwi.com or (219) 933-4170.