system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do they do court room sketches? Why can't they just take a photo?
gpt
Most people can't/don't act naturally when they are being filmed.  They become self conscious about how they look, how they sound, if there clothes are clean, if something is in their teeth, etc.  Basically exactly the opposite of how we want people to act when they're testifying under oath about something important or possibly even life and death.  We want them to focus on their testimony.  Having a camera pointed at you makes that very difficult.

Some states do allow cameras, or allow the judge to decide.  The OJ trial was one of the first high-profile cases to allow cameras, and it turned into an enormous debacle.  Clearly cameras weren't the only reason, but having lawyers and witnesses perform for the camera instead of the jury certainly didn't help.