Camera-shy Justice David Souter is retired; Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justice John Paul Stevens interviewed with ABC's "Primetime;" Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas appeared on CBS's "60 Minutes;" Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg showed up CBS News; Justice Stephen Breyer braved "Fox News Sunday;" every single justice spoke with C-SPAN for their recent documentary on the high court. So why aren't oral arguments before the Supreme Court televised or livestreamed?
This is the question that Sen. Arlen Specter posed yesterday, and not for the first time. Specter, a long-time advocate of televising Supreme Court sessions, again argued that the benefits of transparency at the Court outweigh the costs to the justices. Specter also applauded the recently formed Supreme Court of the United Kingdom for welcoming cameras into its proceedings.
Specter used his recent speech to introduce a non-binding resolution on cameras in the Court, to determine "the sense of the Senate." "He so far has seven co-sponsors, including Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who is the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a former state Supreme Court justice," The National Law Journal reports. "No vote on the resolution has been scheduled."
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