Law and Visual Culture

When we represent our experience today, we do so as much through images as language. When we seek to persuade, we offer photographs, charts, videos. When we witness misconduct, we pull out our smartphones. And as images saturate our cultural discourse, they are increasingly part of legal practice. The power of an image often lies in its apparent simplicity: we know it when we see it. But how much of what we see is produced by the biases and expectations -- the habits of viewing -- that we bring to the encounter? What is left out when an infographic distills information for us? Lawyers and judges have historically tended to treat certain kinds of images as unmediated representations of reality, even though neuroscience, empirical research, and cultural theory all refute this so-called reality effect. Such naïve realism maps on to an ideal of definitive proof embedded in the adversary system. And it haunts our efforts to adapt legal practice to visual persuasion in ways that are consistent with our rule of law values, even as Covid has quickly normalized video trials and social media increasingly serves as the court of public opinion. This interdisciplinary seminar tracks the legal reception of modern visual representation from confusion about the admissibility of photographs in the late 19th century (is it like a drawing? is it like eyewitness testimony?) to the trials of O.J Simpson and the police officers that assaulted Rodney King in the 1990s (how does race affect our perception of trails? do judges and jurors decide differently when the proceedings are televised?) to the frequent and strategic deployment of visual media in pretrial and litigation practice today. We will also consider the roles of visual persuasion in areas of doctrine (like privacy, qualified immunity, and freedom of speech) as well as applications in practice (like contracts and client communications). Throughout the quarter, we will attend to the ways American visual culture has resisted and reinforced systemic racism and inequality. Special Instructions: This course can satisfy the Research "R" requirement. The instructor and the student must agree whether the student will receive "R" credit. For "R" credit, the paper is substantial and is based on independent research. After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from section (01) into section (02), which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Elements Used in Grading: Class Participation. Attendance, Written Assignments, Final Paper. Automatic grading penalty waived for writers.2.