Senators Fight to Mandate TV in the Supreme Court
Fair Courts E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Mallie Jane Kim
Source: US News & World Report
Date: December 6, 2011
Last Monday, Senator Charles Grassley and Senator Richard Durbin introduced legislation to require the Supreme Court to permit video coverage of its hearings. Televising hearings before the high court is not a new idea, but it has received heighted attention in the last months in conjunction with the court’s review of the new federal health care law. C-SPAN requested to televise the five and a half hour proceeding. On Tuesday, during a Senate hearing on the matter, attorney and Supreme Court advocate Maureen Mahoney advised that “[t]he Court is in the best position to assess the impact of electronic media on its proceedings, and it can be trusted to continue to give the issues careful consideration.” Senator Arlen Spector responded that the constitutionality of the individual mandate “is a case which touches every American and ought to be accessible to the public.”
See also: Andrew Ramonas, Witnesses Doubt Congress’ Authority to Impose Cameras on Supreme Court, a Blog of Legal Times, December 06, 2011.