Church, Marilyn. [The jury examines photographic evidence at trial of The People of the State of New York v. Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, New York, New York], July 1990, courtroom sketch, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019630672/.
The following excerpt comes from a Library of Congress blog post by Betty Lupanicci titled “Courtroom Sketches” (In Custodia Legis blog, Library of Congress, April 14, 2016):
With the advent of modern photography came the debate on whether to allow cameras in the courtroom. Some courts have permitted them, though many jurisdictions, especially federal courts, ban them as being too intrusive.
In fact, Rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure states that, “Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.”
More recently, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has stated that: “There’s a concern (among justices) about the impact of television on the functioning of the institution. We’re going to be very careful before we do anything that might have an adverse impact.”
It is essential for students to understand media representation and to evaluate our sources of active journalism. With the courtroom sketch by Church, students are able to interpret the tone, mood, and themes (other elements may also apply) as represented in a single sketch of a largely debated criminal case.
Since photographs are often part of courtroom procedure, sketches become a critical source to “see into” the room in which justice prevails.
The courtroom sketch is just one of many that Church produced during the trial. The sketch focuses on the jury members, who ultimately found the teenage boys guilty. The vantage point from which Church chooses to illustrate the jury’s encounter with the photographic evidence provides rich content on the basis of which students can draw inferences and inquire about the case beyond the image. Church later wrote, when reflecting on her collection of sketches from the trial, "When they were found to be innocent, I was filled with regret about the way I had drawn them" (Church 1990). In 2014, New York City settled a $41 million lawsuit with them for unlawful imprisonment.
References
Church, Marilyn. [Central Park jogger trial Asst. D.A. Elizabeth Lederer questioning arresting police officer . . .], 1990, courtroom sketch, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2011645408/.
Drawing Justice: Race-Based Crimes, 2017, Library of Congress Exhibition, https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/drawing-justice-courtroom-illustrations/about-this-exhibition/race-based-crimes/.
The Central Park jogger case, also known as the Central Park Five case, involved the brutal assault and rape of Trisha Meili, a twenty-eight-year-old white businesswoman who was jogging in Central Park, New York City, on April 19, 1989. Five teenagers of color—Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise—were wrongfully convicted of the crime and served sentences ranging from six to thirteen years. The racial and socioeconomic divide already plaguing New York City made a potent backdrop to the case, in which intense media coverage contributed to a public outcry and a rush to judgment.
- In what ways does artist Marilyn Church communicate emotion in her sketch of the jury members?
- Based on the emotion illustrated on the faces of the jurors, what can you infer about the content of the photo evidence they are examining?
- Why would Marilyn Church choose to sketch the jury? How does this sketch contribute to the jury’s importance in the trial?
Common Core State Standards
5.11-12: Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.
- Students can work closely with the sketch to examine the structure of the image and how the artist chose to place particular people and objects in the frame. Based on her structural choices, students can decide what her sketch seems to argue.
6.11-12: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text.
- The sketch's style and content communicate a point of view; therefore, students can examine the sketch’s point of view and the persuasive power that accompanies that point of view.
7.11-12: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
- By examining courtroom sketches, students are exposed to new modes of primary documentation. Through the sketches, students can address the details of the trial by examining visual elements.
- Courtroom sketches provide a cross-disciplinary lesson in judicial/criminal justice and visual literacy. Further, the sketch encourages genre studies that particularly examine how power is used in certain text modalities. A compare-and-contrast lesson on police reports and courtroom sketches will allow students to consider how sources possess persuasive power to pose an individual’s innocence or guilt. Through their language or visual cues, police reports and courtroom sketches, both of which attempt to provide perspectives for a particularly high-stakes scenario, require critical reflection on how individuals are positioned in relation to others. These perspectives that construct certain positional powers call for a deeper consideration of what serving justice means in the American judicial system.
- Regarding the specific sketch by Church, students can also inquire about what is not included or seen in the sketch. Thus it poses an opportunity for research into the infamous case as a way to examine the types of evidence included throughout the trial. The Central Park case can be further investigated in connection with Supreme Court cases that also received heightened media coverage. The legacy of the case continues ongoing conversations on racial justice and abused power.
- The Central Park case continues to get muddled with controversy and discourse. The case refers specifically to the brutal rape and beating of a twenty-eight-year-old woman. The evidence and testimony in the case are highly sensitive and may be triggering for students. Further, the treatment of the young men as suspects was brutal and unfair. The incarceration and ill treatment of youth can be a difficult topic for students, particularly those from marginalized groups who have been historically harmed by the American justice system.
Links to resources for approaching those topics
- District Attorney Addresses the Jury: This image—without referencing any particular pieces of evidence—shows the positionality of the jury, the district attorney, and the defendants from a critical vantage point that reveals the power dynamics in the courtroom.
- An interview featuring Sara W. Duke, curator of Popular & Applied Graphic Arts in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress, discusses the exhibit in which Church’s courtroom sketches were included.
- NPR and The Central Park Five Case: This source allows students to read about where one member of the Central Park Five is now and what accomplishments he is making.
- Vox Video on the Need for Courtroom Sketches: This YouTube video allows students to see a courtroom sketch artist talk about her craft and why we still need sketch artists.