I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2155
To allow media coverage of court proceedings. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 20, 2003
Mr. CHABOT (for himself and Mr. DELAHUNT) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To allow media coverage of court proceedings.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The right of the people of the United States 
to freedom of speech, particularly as it relates to 
comment on governmental activities, as protected by 
the first amendment to the Constitution, cannot be 
meaningfully exercised without the ability of the 
public to obtain facts and information about the 
Government upon which to base their judgments re-
garding important issues and events. As the United
States Supreme Court articulated in Craig v. Har-
ney (1947), ‘‘A trial is a public event. What tran-
spires in the court room is public property.’’. 
(2) The right of the people of the United States 
to a free press, with the ability to report on all as-
pects of the conduct of the business of government, 
as protected by the first amendment to the Constitu-
tion, cannot be meaningfully exercised without the 
ability of the news media to gather facts and infor-
mation freely for dissemination to the public. 
(3) The right of the people of the United States 
to petition the Government to redress grievances, 
particularly as it relates to the manner in which the 
Government exercises its legislative, executive, and 
judicial powers, as protected by the first amendment 
to the Constitution, cannot be meaningfully exer-
cised without the availability to the public of infor-
mation about how the affairs of government are 
being conducted. As the Supreme Court noted in 
Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Commonwealth of 
Virginia (1980), ‘‘People in an open society do not 
demand infallibility from their institutions, but it is 
difficult for them to accept what they are prohibited 
from observing.’’
(4) In the twenty-first century, the people of 
the United States obtain information regarding judi-
cial matters involving the Constitution, civil rights, 
and other important legal subjects principally 
through the print and electronic media. Television, 
in particular, provides a degree of public access to 
courtroom proceedings that more closely approxi-
mates the ideal of actual physical presence than 
newspaper coverage or still photography. 
(5) Providing statutory authority for the courts 
of the United States to exercise their discretion in 
permitting televised coverage of courtroom pro-
ceedings would enhance significantly the access of 
the people to the Federal judiciary. 
(6) Inasmuch as the first amendment to the 
Constitution prevents Congress from abridging the 
ability of the people to exercise their inherent rights 
to freedom of speech, to freedom of the press, and 
to petition the Government for a redress of griev-
ances, it is good public policy for the Congress af-
firmatively to facilitate the ability of the people to 
exercise those rights. 
(7) The granting of such authority would assist 
in the implementation of the constitutional guar-
antee of public trials in criminal cases, as provided
by the sixth amendment to the Constitution. As the 
Supreme Court stated in In re Oliver (1948), 
‘‘Whatever other benefits the guarantee to an ac-
cused that his trial be conducted in public may con-
fer upon our society, the guarantee has always been 
recognized as a safeguard against any attempt to 
employ our courts as instruments of persecution. 
The knowledge that every criminal trial is subject to 
contemporaneous review in the forum of public opin-
ion is an effective restraint on possible abuse of judi-
cial power.’’. 
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF PRESIDING JUDGE TO ALLOW 
MEDIA COVERAGE OF COURT PROCEEDINGS. 
(a) AUTHORITY OF APPELLATE COURTS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, the presiding judge 
of an appellate court of the United States may, in his or 
her discretion, permit the photographing, electronic re-
cording, broadcasting, or televising to the public of court 
proceedings over which that judge presides. 
(b) AUTHORITY OF DISTRICT COURTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, any presiding judge of a district 
court of the United States may, in his or her discre-
tion, permit the photographing, electronic recording,
broadcasting, or televising to the public of court pro-
ceedings over which that judge presides. 
(2) OBSCURING OF WITNESSES.—(A) Upon the 
request of any witness in a trial proceeding other 
than a party, the court shall order the face and voice 
of the witness to be disguised or otherwise obscured 
in such manner as to render the witness unrecogniz-
able to the broadcast audience of the trial pro-
ceeding. 
(B) The presiding judge in a trial proceeding 
shall inform each witness who is not a party that the 
witness has the right to request that his or her 
image and voice be obscured during the witness’ tes-
timony. 
(c) ADVISORY
GUIDELINES.—The Judicial Con-
ference of the United States is authorized to promulgate 
advisory guidelines to which a presiding judge, in his or 
her discretion, may refer in making decisions with respect 
to the management and administration of photographing, 
recording, broadcasting, or televising described in sub-
sections (a) and (b). 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) PRESIDING JUDGE.—The term ‘‘presiding 
judge’’ means the judge presiding over the court
proceeding concerned. In proceedings in which more 
than one judge participates, the presiding judge 
shall be the senior active judge so participating or, 
in the case of a circuit court of appeals, the senior 
active circuit judge so participating, except that—
(A) in en banc sittings of any United 
States circuit court of appeals, the presiding 
judge shall be the chief judge of the circuit 
whenever the chief judge participates; and 
(B) in en banc sittings of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, the presiding judge 
shall be the Chief Justice whenever the Chief 
Justice participates. 
(2) APPELLATE
COURT
OF
THE
UNITED 
STATES.—The term ‘‘appellate court of the United 
States’’ means any United States circuit court of ap-
peals and the Supreme Court of the United States. 
SEC. 4. SUNSET. 
The authority under section 2(b) shall terminate on 
the date that is 3 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.
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