Editorial: Alex Crain attorneys fight courtroom cameras

Attorneys for Alex Crain, 14, accused of killing his parents at their home in Golden Gate Estates, are asking that cameras be kept out of his future court proceedings. They say he is emotionally fragile and the presence of still and video cameras would somehow deny his right to a fair trial.

We have heard such arguments before and will continue to resist them in the interest of the public's right to know the goings-on in public courtrooms.

The days of cameras being big, bulky, noisy and distracting in the courtroom are long gone.

We believe unrestricted news coverage best serves society. Cameras — managed by each media outlet or in a pool or sharing arrangement — offer an accurate accounting of the proceedings and, if anything, can prevent unfairness not promote it.

Unedited. Unfiltered.

Everybody gets to see everything and make up their own minds.

That is what cameras in the courtroom are all about.

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