I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1281
To allow media coverage of court proceedings.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 25, 1999
Mr. CHABOT (for himself, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. DELAY, Mrs. MCCARTHY of
New York, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Mr.
GEKAS, Mr. SCARBOROUGH, Mr. JONES
of North Carolina, Mr.
HILLEARY, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. DIXON, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr.
GIBBONS, Mr. COBLE, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. SALMON, Mr.
ENGLISH, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. HULSHOF, Mrs.
CHENOWETH, Mr. WEINER, Mr. BAKER, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. TIERNEY,
Mr. RAHALL, Mr. BRYANT, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. TRAFICANT,
Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. HAYES, Mr. MCCOLLUM, and Mr. ROGAN) 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,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION. 1. 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. 2. DEFINITIONS.
As used 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. 3. SUNSET.
The authority under section 1(b) shall terminate on
the date that is 3 years after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
Æ