Ep. 164: The Artistry of the Courtroom Sketch

Today we’re talking about one of the legal world’s most fascinating professions: the courtroom sketch artist. Relying on hand-drawn pictures to digest news events may seem quaint in the information age, but so long as television access to court proceedings remains limited, sketch artists will continue to play an important role. We talked with veteran courtroom artist Art Lien, who has documented cases at the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous other venues for decades, about his big break in the profession, his creative process, cameras in the courtroom, and much more. Also this week, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon gets collared for allegedly scamming donors out of millions intended for a privately funded border wall, and a California court grapples with the unique headaches of trials conducted over Zoom.