Censorship was on trial Wednesday night as students participated in a mock trial hosted by Hillel. Audience members were asked to act as the jury, and then held an open deliberation of the verdict to create a discussion forum on censorship issues.
Joshua Schwartz, events coordinator for Hillel as well as trial advisor, summarized the purpose of the event.
“Our main goal was to stimulate conversation on the issue of censorship, and judging from the level of interest of the members of the audience and the deliberation of the jury I’d say the event was a success,” Schwartz said. “We chose this topic around the time when the media was censoring what they were putting on air, and it seemed like a relevant topic at the time. We were concerned about not taking on a controversial stance; we didn’t want to do anything on Osama bin Laden, and we thought this was a great way to open up the forum to students.”
Playing the roles of prosecutors, defendants, witnesses and attorneys, the mostly-freshman and -sophomore cast presented the case against a fictitious radio show host, “Katya Monroe,” played by UW-Madison senior Laura Berman, who is charged with criminally negligent homicide when one of her listeners murdered an anti-war protestor after a call-in to her show.
The judge presiding over the case was Mark A. Frankel, a Madison attorney who instructed the jury panel on the criteria for guilt while adding his own professional advice to the students in the cast.
Both sides, prosecution and defense, had two lawyers presenting the case, with each side contributing two witnesses to the trial.
After opening remarks, the murderer, “Joe Adams,” played by UW senior Micah Bycel, took the stand, followed by his co-worker and friend, “Rob Smith,” played by UW student Michael Gelman. Next, the prosecution presented its witnesses, the defendant, “Katya Monroe,” followed by a psychology expert.
The case concluded when both sides gave the closing remarks, and the jury held an open deliberation to discuss the case. Issues concerning direct verbal incitement to violence were brought up, as well as the fine-line between censorship and safeguarding the community.
Jury member Jeremy Manela, a UW sophomore, came to support his friends in the cast, while taking advantage of the open forum to express his own concerns about censorship.
“I was mainly motivated to come to support my friends, but it is also a great opportunity to talk about some of these issues in a non-hostile forum. UW is a unique campus where we can express our opinions on a variety of topics and this was a great break from studying,” Manela said. “I was not able to fully express my stance on the censorship topic today, but in a timed atmosphere that is hard to do.”
Berman was satisfied with the outcome of the trial.
“I was happy not only because my character was innocent, but the jury’s decision fell in line with my own opinions. I feel that there is a fine line in the censorship issues — I mean, once you start drawing a line on what you can and can’t say in the media, it turns into a slippery slope. Next thing you know, there’s censorship of newspapers, radio — when do you stop?” said Berman.
This was the third year Hillel has sponsored a mock trial, and plans to hold another trial with a different topic in the spring.
