History
Courtroom sketches in the United States date back as far as the Salem Witch Trials during the 17th century. Courtroom sketch artists were present for the trial of abolitionist John Brown. By the mid-1800s there were well-known court artists and printmakers such as George Caleb Bingham and David G. Blyth. These sketches were reproduced as engravings in the print publications of the era, long before photography was a practical option for courtroom news coverage. Mass-publication of news photographs became more widespread in the 1950s, but courts were reluctant to allow either cameras or sketch artists in courtrooms since they were viewed as a distraction. Artist Ida Libby Dengrove protested these restrictions and gradually courtrooms began allowing sketch artists to work while seated in the public gallery during trials.
Cameras were first permitted in courtrooms in the United States in the mid-1980s. Since then, demand for courtroom sketches has declined. They are still used in some jurisdictions however, when cameras are not permitted inside courtrooms.
Read more about this topic: Courtroom Sketch
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“History, as an entirety, could only exist in the eyes of an observer outside it and outside the world. History only exists, in the final analysis, for God.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“Yet poetry, though the last and finest result, is a natural fruit. As naturally as the oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done. It is the chief and most memorable success, for history is but a prose narrative of poetic deeds.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)