I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2519
To allow media coverage of court proceedings.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 17, 2001
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, cannot be
meaningfully exercised without the ability of the
news media to gather facts and information 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 amend-
ment, cannot be meaningfully exercised without the
availability to the public of information 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 ac-
cept 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 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 Govern-
ment for a redress of grievances, it is good public
policy for the Congress affirmatively 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.
Æ