Why We Like-a da Juice So Much
Dahlia Lithwick, the compelling legal commentator over on slate, wonders why the O.J. trial continues to stand out in our collective consciousness as the "trial of the century." After all, as Lithwick points out, there have been plenty of other highly publicized celebrity trials--both before and since. There have also been many televised trials, and a few--like those of Adolf Eichmann and William Kennedy Smith--predated even O.J.'s.

I think a part of the answer is contained in Litwick's question. O.J. may not have been the first big celebrity trial, or the first televised trial, but it was the first big celebrity trial to be televised. Few knew who Eichmann was, and even fewer Kennedy Smith, before their respective trials. O.J. was the first genuinely public figure to have his brush with justice broadcast into our homes. All this at a time when cable television generally, and cable news channels particularly, were expanding rapidly. The combination was combustible, which is why, for better or worse, O.J.'s remains the trial of the 20th century.
- posted by bigmouth @ 10:45 AM