The Senators said that while the Court should have permitted the proceedings to be televised, the decision will help build momentum for televising federal proceedings in the future. This is the first time the Supreme Court has ever released an audio transcript immediately after hearing an argument. Giving the public greater access to the highest court in the land is the right thing to do and is consistent with the founding fathers' intentions for our federal judicial system. I hope this precedent will be expanded to allow full broadcast coverage of court proceedings.
Openness is the key to public confidence in our system.
Earlier today, Schumer and Grassley wrote Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to urge him to reverse the Court's decision to prohibit televising Friday's proceedings. Schumer and Grassley are the authors of the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act, bipartisan legislation would allow federal trial and appellate judges, at their sole discretion, to permit cameras in their courtrooms. The bill would also direct the Judicial Conference, the federal courts' principal policy-making body, to draft nonbinding guidelines that judges can refer to in weighing whether to televise a particular case.