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Abstract:
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One of the hallmarks of the American criminal justice system is the right to a fair trial. This right is held not only by the criminal defendant through the Sixth Amendment, but also by the public through the First Amendment because the Supreme Court has recognized that public trials promote “basic fairness” for the criminal defendant, encourage public trust in the judicial system, and allow the public to play a role in ensuring the quality of trials. Even in the age of digitization, however, the public has no meaningful access to criminal trial materials. The vast majority of American criminal trials take place in state courts. Yet, most studies of the criminal justice system rely on data from federal courts. The data available from state courts are often limited to cases that attracted media attention or do not include access to trial transcripts. Drawing on insights from a novel pilot study aimed at collecting material from state criminal trials, we explore how the limited data availability may be distorting our understanding of the criminal justice system.
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