The original post: /r/television by /u/AporiaParadox on 2025-10-03 12:04:39+00:00.
Lots of shows have court scenes. Shows often take a lot of liberties with the procedures of trials in order to make things less boring and more cinematic, nobody wants to see a slow trial that takes months with tons of boring paperwork and not much happening. But sometimes the liberties go a bit too far and the trial leads to nonsensical results that wouldn’t happen in a normal court, often because they go against the law and precedent.
Sometimes, it’s intentional, we’re meant to see that the system is being rigged, either to protect the rich and powerful, or to oppress marginalized minorities. But usually, no such commentary is being made, we’re just meant to assume that this is a normal court operating in a normal manner making a perfectly normal and legal ruling.
Like how often in copaganda shows like Law and Order they will have violent criminals “get off” on the flimsiest of “technicalities” that wouldn’t work that way in real life, a common one is when a criminal isn’t properly read their Miranda rights, so the whole case gets thrown out, even though that would only invalidate a confession while all of the potential evidence and testimony would still be admissable. In this case, there’s an agenda, the shows are trying to imply that American courts are too lenient (any simple analysis of the American criminal justice system will tell you it’s the opposite unless you’re rich) and we should just ignore civil rights and due process.
So what are some notable court scenes and rulings in TV shows that you think went way too far in being too unrealistic?