Freedom of the Lens

Press photographers, who have long been barred from most U.S. courtrooms,* are now clamoring to get inside. They argue that small cameras, faster film that needs no flashbulbs, and quieter shutters have outmoded the legal view that photography would distract witnesses and degrade the court. Last week the photographers showed some persuasive proof.

In an experiment, unprecedented in Pennsylvania, photographers were admitted to the Philadelphia court where Mrs. Gertrude Silver, Bartender Milton Schwartz and his wife Rosalie admitted their guilt in the abortion death of Mrs. Silver's 22-year-old daughter, Mrs. Doris Oestreicher. When sentences were pronounced (a suspended sentence for Mrs. Silver, eleven to 22 months for the Schwartzes), photographers were able to catch the crying, distraught Mrs. Silver and her husband in vivid pictures (see cut).

Judge Vincent A. Carroll set simple rules for the experiment. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Frank B. Johnston, Charles Myers of Philadelphia's News, and Dominic Ligato of the Bulletin were assigned seats at the press table but forbidden to stand, leave their seats or use flashbulbs. Using 35-mm. cameras, they made about 565 shots, completely won the approval of Judge Carroll: "The photographers didn't interfere with the conduct of the trial as much as coughing in the spectator section of the courtroom did. There was no disrespect shown to the court. I feel that a photographer is exactly the same as a reporter, and should be extended the same privileges. A picture is as important as a story--sometimes more important because it could possibly be more accurate than a verbal description of a scene."

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In Denver, the Colorado Supreme Court began a hearing to decide whether photographers should be admitted to state courts. While newsmen and photographers argued their case, some 500 pictures and 200 ft. of movie film were taken in two days without distracting anyone. At one point, Justice O. Otto Moore was surprised to learn that a photographer on the witness stand was taking movies with a camera resting in his lap. The judge ordered the photographer to approach, then said: "I could not hear the camera until it was only three feet away." Though a decision will be made later, Justice Moore said: "I'm overwhelmed."

* Although many courtroom doors were shut to them earlier, the American Bar Association in 1937 made an anti-photography ruling which has been widely followed, written into the law of 14 states.

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