CAMERAS IN MISSOURI'S COURTS ARE LONG OVERDUE

Missouri will experiment with cameras in the courtroom under a two-year study approved by the Missouri's Supreme Court. Cameras and recording devices will be allowed in selected courtrooms across the state. The move is long overdue.

Missouri will become the 47th state without a total ban on cameras and recording equipment in the courtroom. Obviously, the concept works in the vast majority of other states, and there's no reason it shouldn't work here.

The standard worry is how cameras will influence "performances" of lawyers and witnesses. Cameras, opponents fear, will turn celebrated trials into zoos. They also worry televised court proceedings will endanger a defendant's right to a fair trial.

One of the most publicized trials of this century was the William Kennedy Smith trial in Florida. That trial was broadcast nationwide, and many people watched all or parts of it. He was acquitted. His right to a fair trial was not jeopardized.

Trials can be educational. Perhaps if the Rodney King ~trial had been nationally broadcast and people watched the entire proceeding, it could have shed some light on that verdict.

People are clearly interested in what happens in the courtroom. Court proceedings are already the focus of a number of television shows. Real-life court has its own brand of drama and even entertainment.

But courts deserve coverage as an institution of government. The lack of cameras and recording devices limits the scope of coverage. Tape recorders will help ensure accurate quotes, and photographs will show the accused and the accusers. Now, photographers have to stake out courthouse entrances and exits.

Granted, there will be a level of discomfort at first. That's the case with anything new. But after a while, cameras will become just another routine facet of court proceedings.

Missouri's experiment won't be some free-for-all. There are guidelines, which limit camera access. Witnesses can choose whether they want to be photographed; jurors and juror candidates cannot be photographed at any time, under the guidelines of the experiment.

The experiment will begin in the Missouri Supreme Court and designated appeals courts on Oct. 1, and in selected trial courts across the state starting Jan. 1.

Many people feel the court proceedings they see on television resemble real life. But the antics of Perry Mason and Ben Matlock wouldn't stand up in most courts. And that's where the educational factor comes in. Innocence or guilt are decided by days, weeks or even months of weighty evidence not by 30-second sound bites. Perhaps more thorough coverage of the court system would provide us all with a greater understanding of our justice system.