The World Wide Web has the potential to restore the sanctity of the courtroom by disseminating legal and scientific information. Society's reward would be a sophisticated citizenry with a working knowledge of criminal law , and a reversion of the law into a defensive weapon for citizens. The evolution of American criminal law into talk-show fodder has exacerbated the traditionally vitriolic relationship between prosecution and defense .
Prosecutors like to joke that a conservative is a liberal whose car has been stolen.
Those who have the misfortune to be accused in a criminal proceeding soon learn that despite constitutional guarantees, the system is not invariably fair. True, defense attorneys often tell the jury about the Scottish Verdict. These noble intentions are no compensation for months of pretrial detention or an erroneous conviction . The backbone of our adversary system is an independent judiciary to assure that cases are decided on their merits, isolated from the noise and violence of public opinion. Similar considerations apply when cases are tried to a jury , for the jury must act as independent judges of the facts.