Remember rights of the accused in court

This letter is in response to your editorial "How would camera disrupt courtroom decorum?" in which you criticized DuPage County Judge Brian Telander for rejecting a media request to have a pool photographer and a videographer in the courtroom for the arraignment of four Wheaton College football players accused criminally of hazing another team member.

Judge Telander, a highly respected judge, reportedly stated that he denied the media request "to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice" and "to maintain decorum and prevent distractions".

Your headline and opinion addressed only the "courtroom decorum" portion of Judge Telander's remarks.

Persons who are accused of a criminal offense are, under our system of justice, presumed innocent. But there is no doubt that displaying photographs or videos of accused persons standing before a black-robed judge has effects on those persons, and others, far beyond the courtroom. Although they have not been proven guilty of any offense, their faces become inevitably linked with the mere accusation. I believe this is what Judge Telander sought to avoid. Indeed, it is his sworn duty as a judicial officer to protect those persons brought before him from anything which might prejudice their cases.

The "perp walk" and the "mug shot" have become sensationalist fixtures in any number of TV crime dramas and on the daily broadcast news. The courtroom, however, must never become a vehicle to brand accused persons with a "Scarlet Letter" before the facts have been fully proved. Neither should the print media.

To maintain respect as a credible source of information in our free society the press must assume the same responsibility as Judge Telander's sworn duty: to ensure that those persons merely accused of criminal offenses are protected from being prejudiced (pre-judged) in any fashion, and in your words, to "avoid harming the cause of justice".

Lawrence M. Lykowski

Palatine