Trial-of-the-Century Dept. (Continued) : Supervisors propose to bill news media for televising Simpson case--a bizarre idea

It’s obvious now (though was there really any doubt?) that before the trial of Orenthal James Simpson is over (and what century will that be?), we will have seen everything. Absolutely everything.

To this end, the Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday did their part to put the trial and everything surrounding it into Ripley’s Believe It or Not. They actually voted to ask Judge Lance A. Ito to charge the news media for costs of the trial, including, amazingly, jury sequestration.

“We’re not trying to hurt television stations,” explained Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke. “We’re not trying to take away their profits. We just want part of it.”

It’s true that some TV outlets are making good money by televising the trial (though some others are claiming revenue downturns). And certainly the trial has renewed the prominence of CNN and put Court TV in the spotlight as never before.

It’s also true that the supervisors are reeling from the horrifying budget calculations being served up by the county’s no-nonsense chief financial officer, Sally Reed, who says the county is facing a budget gap like nothing it has ever seen. But to charge people for what is a taxpayer-paid government proceeding is bizarre. Why not put pay-TV meters on all county meetings?

Tuesday’s ludicrous vote did serve a useful purpose, though. It should remind everyone anew of the unpredictable parameters of this trial, and the considerable difficulties and responsibilities that Judge Ito faces every day. The oddball proposal is only the latest in the annals of excessive originality.

We don’t think this will prove to be a tough one for Ito. Whether the media are peering in with a television camera or taking everything down with a pencil, charging them for covering a public governmental function is probably unconstitutional, and is certainly silly. Moreover, the news media have already paid for modifying the courtroom, laying cable lines and so on.

In effect, Ito is being asked to force the media to pay the county a commission. It’s noteworthy that at the same meeting Tuesday the Board of Supervisors also created a task force to propose ways of financing high-profile trials. The Simpson proceeding is already over the $2-million mark. For starters, the group might advise the board to stop wasting its official time with frivolous requests to a judge who is already involved in a long, trying legal process. That only adds to the trial’s costs.