Courtroom Sketching: From Salem Witch Trials to Trump's Trial

The tradition of courtroom sketching in the United States dates back to the Salem witch trials in the late 17th century, as depicted in Tompkins Harrison Matteson's 1853 painting 'Examination of a Witch'. The practice gained prominence after cameras were banned from courtrooms following the 1935 trial of Bruno Hauptmann for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr., leading to Rule 53 and Judicial Conduct Canon 35. Female artists like Marguerite Martyn (1910 Doxley trial) and Aggie Whelan Kenny (1972 Republican National Convention protest trial) excelled in this genre; Kenny's Emmy-winning work led to the 1974 United States v. Columbia Broadcasting System case affirming artists' rights to sketch in court. British artist William Hartley's sketches are held at New Scotland Yard's Crime Museum. Howard Brodie covered WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and trials of Jack Ruby and Charles Manson. Joseph Wood Papin documented Watergate and John Gotti's trial; his works are in the Library of Congress. Contemporary artists include Bill Robles (O.J. Simpson, Unabomber, Michael Jackson), Arthur Lien (since the 1970s), Dana Verkouteren (Zacarias Moussaoui trial), and Jane Rosenberg, whose sketch of Donald Trump appeared on The New Yorker's April 17, 2023 cover. Criticism arose over William J. Hennessy Jr.'s flattering depiction of Trump.