'Logged and Ordered': TV Court Dramas and Public Perceptions of the Justice System

“The reality is modern criminal courts have devolved into little more than plea mills, but presentations of the process in the popular media pretend that Atticus-Finch style courtroom drama is the norm instead of the rare exception. From the perspective of dramatic presentation, I understand completely. But an unintended consequence of over-reliance on that dramatic trope is to mis-educate the public on how the system really works.” Media warps perceptions of reality in many areas of life, including sexuality, what it is to be a woman, a man, a child, and our basic understandings about such things as happiness and love. Thus, that the media contributes to a false, idealized picture of our legal system holds no surprise to me.