Thursday marked the 100th anniversary of the commencement of the “Monkey Trial” of science teacher John T. Scopes in Dayton, Tennessee. It is one of many candidates for the title of “American trial of the (20th) century,” perhaps the best-deserving up until the O.J. Simpson fiasco. In some ways the Scopes trial can be seen as an early warning to judges about the warping effects of mass media attention on the courtroom, a warning that was perhaps misplaced by the time O.J. came to be tried.