Gary Joseph | May 2022

This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.

The Johnny (Depp) and Amber (Heard) show is the talk of the town. Each day their televised defamation trial offers salacious details of an obvious dysfunctional relationship. Once again, the debate over TV in our courts has raised its ugly head, driven likely by the unrelenting need in our society for more and more intrusion into our private lives.

Talk radio was full of callers loving the telecast and proclaiming their inalienable right to know what goes on in the courts. If those of us who oppose TV coverage of trial proceedings needed any support for our views, look no further than such callers and the multitude of newspaper, magazine and other media coverage of this event which I more accurately described as a circus rather than a trial. Neither party to this proceeding
can escape with his/her dignity intact regardless of the outcome. Of equal concern is the attraction this trial has generated in various interest groups who have vocally chosen sides to further their own views and causes.

I speak now only as a family lawyer. For most parties to protracted high conflict divorces, the experience is one to never experience again. These cases are financially and emotionally exhausting. The damage to the family and more importantly to the children is well known. Often the damage is irreparable. Those of us who “toil in the fields of matrimonial discord” try very hard to shield the children involved in these disputes from the parental conflict. We remind our clients of the permanent record they are creating when they file with the court rabid attack affidavits. The thought of further exposing these disputes to the TV camera is disturbing. In my view, the less these disputes are publicly exposed the better.

The potential harm of television exposure can be easily considered. Imagine the scene at a school the day after classmates of a child whose parents are engaged in televised divorce proceedings have viewed the proceedings and pepper the poor child with questions or worse, ridicule.

No matter how high profile the parties and no matter our open courts policy (which, of course, I greatly respect), I can see no compelling reason why family law proceedings should be televised. The dignity of our courts, judges, court staff and participants would be subject to unwarranted and often misinformed granular scrutiny by commentators more interested in sensation than fact. The camera is not always kind and can be manipulated to favour one side over the other. The visual intrusion into the personal lives of separating parties is unacceptable. I can think of no argument that would convince me otherwise.

For those who need a fix of salacious TV, American television is full of Court TV, The People’s Court, Judge Judy and of course the most recent, the Johnny and Amber show, both of whom most likely have much left in their arsenal of shocking details of their horrible relationship.

Rest assured that there are many other such divorce spectacles waiting to air once Johnny and Amber exit the court stage. Keep TV out of our family courts, maintain some dignity for the participants and their children.

Gary S. Joseph is the managing partner at MacDonald & Partners LLP. A certified specialist in family law, he has been reported in over 350 family law decisions at all court levels in Ontario and Alberta. He has also appeared as counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada. He is a past family law instructor of the Ontario Bar Admission course and the winner of the 2021 OBA Award for Excellence in Family Law.

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