Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) has argued cases before the United States Supreme Court four times, and he believes that the American people deserve live access to the proceedings of their own most prestigious courtroom.
“Especially,” writes the Senator in a multipart tweetstorm, “at a time when the Court will be hearing some of the most consequential cases in our history.”
I’ve found that reading the bench is crucial to understanding the Justices—a view shared virtually universally by SCOTUS advocates. Yet, federal judges have barred any broadcast & visual recordings—not only at SCOTUS, but all federal courts—for outdated & outlandish reasons. 2/
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) January 19, 2024
That access could be easily granted, Blumenthal says, by placing cameras in the court and thereby hauling the SCOTUS into the 20th century — not even the 21st, as the Senator sees it. But for “outdated & outlandish reasons,” the SCOTUS continues to deny the public access.
“As we approach the first quarter mark of the 21st century, the Court should enter the 20th,” Blumenthal urges, and “permit cameras into its proceedings.”
The high Court has been plagued by ethics questions and accusations that it has become more politically charged (and more vulnerable to special interests) than in the past, situations for which part of the remedy, Blumenthal asserts, is “transparency.”
In light of this judicial resistance, a bipartisan legislative effort is underway to open SCOTUS to cameras & visual recording. A bill I’ve worked on with Senators @ChuckGrassley & @SenatorDurbin would mandate it—with safeguards to prevent abuses. 5/
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) January 19, 2024
The Senator presses the point that “the correct response to the public’s lack of trust, knowledge or understanding is more transparency—not less.”
Blumenthal offers live broadcasts of its proceedings as a first step in demystification of the Supreme Court, resulting in a public good, in his estimation, that outweighs such concerns as “the fear of theatrics by counsel when lawyers think they’re playing to an audience” or “public misunderstanding or misimpression, endangering judges’ public image.”
Blumenthal has company in the Senate as he wonders how much more endangered “judges’ public image(s)” could be. Below is Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) commenting on the SCOTUS at work recently and calling some of the proceedings “bonkers.”
Blumenthal’s plea asks that Americans get a chance to hear these so-called “bonkers” arguments unfiltered.
BTW if unilateral power is the danger, unilateral judicial power is far more dangerous and undemocratic, with far less congressional oversight and voter accountability. Making up “unilateral executive power” as a danger, to move toward unilateral judicial power, is nuts.
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) January 21, 2024
