The hearing was a momentous event, which the Supreme Court obviously recognized as it inched toward modernity by releasing the audio tapes well ahead of its usual schedule. But the nation's highest court declined to permit the hearing to be televised. Many who agree have the notion that ordinary people would not understand the intricacies of appellate court maneuvering and that judges and lawyers would play to the cameras. That attitude is as demeaning to the public as it is to members of the court and bar. And yet it is a regular counterargument when cameras are proposed in federal and state courts.
Many states permit television cameras in both trial and appellate courts.
And people understand the courts better as a result. In Delaware, the state Supreme Court permits cameras but has refused to permit even an experiment in a state trial court. The contention that televised trials turn into show business, especially when celebrities are involved, is a valid point. But it blames the wrong element. While the O.J. Simpson murder trial was a circus, the William Kennedy Smith trial was as sedate as any could be.