Senate Panel Backs Televising Supreme Court

A sharply divided Senate Judiciary Committee has given its approval to a bill requiring public sessions of the U.S. Supreme Court to be televised.

In an 11-7 vote the Judiciary Committee approved without amendment the bill S. 344, calling for the televising of all public sessions of the Supreme Court. The bill gives the Supreme Court the option of banning TV cameras if a majority of the justices vote that televising the session would violate the rights of either of the parties involved in the case. The committee's positive vote clears the measure for consideration by the full Senate.

The proposal to televise their hearings has drawn objections from several of the Supreme Court Justices, including Justices Anthony Kennedy and David Souter.

In opposing the bill, Judiciary Committee member Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-California) quoted Justice Kennedy as stating that televising the Supreme Court might create "an insidious temptation for justices to get a sound bite on the evening news," and Justice Souter who flatly declared, "cameras will be allowed here only over my dead body."

Chief Justice John Roberts has also expressed objections to a televised Supreme Court.

Also See:
Supreme Court - A Brief History
The Supreme Court and U.S. Court System
Supreme Court Procedures