"Why don't victims just come forward?" Maybe this is why.

[immortalfrieza]

There are two problems with this off the top of my head.

Firstly, charges and trials being publicised allows for increased awareness that gives other witnesses an opportunity to come forward and help the court determine truth.

That's what police investigations are for. Just have the police investigate the case and find any evidence and witnesses without the public getting wind of it and tons of issues with the Justice System would be solved.

Secondly, trials being transparent can contribute to public trust in the justice system, because people tend not to trust hidden processes and will suspect they may be rigged and made unfair

Hidden? No. Obscured? Yes. There's zero reason to put the defendant's real faces and name and the faces names of their victims/witnesses and anyone else involved in a trial. That's how the Justice System gets subverted by malicious elements. There's a reason Jurors aren't permitted to talk about the case nor to anyone else while a trial is going on: To prevent them from being manipulated or threatened. By publicizing the trial, we not only allow for the public bias to infect the Jury but the witnesses, judges, defendants, prosecution, etc. and insure that those who come forward are harassed if not harmed outright for their part in it. Which also makes witnesses and victims unwilling to step forward because they're afraid of how much of their lives will be ruined by being involved in a court case especially a high profile one. Ideally even the defendant would not know who the witnesses are to protect them from retaliation as well.

In other words, publicizing the trial does nothing other than help subvert the Justice System.

I also think it's not going to make much difference, because eventually the truth will out and even if the arsehole much beloved by keyboard warriors goes down, those keyboard warriors will still take revenge on that arsehole's victim.

Not if it's kept under wraps like it should be. If the defendant is innocent? Then they don't have to deal with the stigma of having a false accusation hung over them because nobody knew they were ever on trial in the first place. If they're guilty? Then the defendant's real name, face, and crimes are publicized so they are the only one who is effected while the witnesses and victims and those adjacent to them can live normal lives without being harassed over getting the defendant rightly put in jail because nobody knows who they are.

Yes, there's going to be some cases that the press are going to end up getting wind of and tracking down who's involved. However, by making keeping the whole process as under wraps as possible it helps the entirety of the Justice System work much better.

 

[Silvanus]

That's what police investigations are for. Just have the police investigate the case and find any evidence and witnesses without the public getting wind of it and tons of issues with the Justice System would be solved.

Fuck that. Victims and witnesses require confidence that their testimony will be judged appropriately. Publicity of a related case may /possibly/ give that. Many police forces would not.

Police forces have been engaged in innumerable cover-ups, prejudicial or outright dismissive approaches to cases (particularly when victims are from vulnerable groups), all the way to outright intimidation. The police force that covers my city was found by an officially-sanctioned report to be institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic. Its own members have themselves been responsible for various criminal acts, ranging from endangering the public, illegal methods of suppression, all the way to outright sexual assault and murder-- all within just the recent past.

Another high-profile case in my city recently involved the police refusing to speak to the partner of a gay victim, even when he had information vital to the case, and then wrongly concluding that the victim was a drug addict and sex worker. They hampered their own damn investigation with their rank prejudicial assumptions and a sheer lack of care.

I don't trust my city police force as far as I can throw them. I've personally been the victim of crime /at their hands/. I consider them an outright barrier to justice.