Viewpoints: Keeping high court arguments away from TV is 'national shame'

Mar 27 2012

Several news outlets call for the Supreme Court to open up to the public through television.

The Dallas Morning News: Health Care Arguments Should Be Live On TV
Why the U.S. Supreme Court continues to hold its oral arguments away from television cameras remains a mystery and national shame. The court is about to begin hearing six hours of arguments over three days in a lawsuit brought by more than half of the states in the nation to challenge the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, one of the most important pieces of economic legislation passed by Congress since the New Deal. … We should be outraged by this decision (Erwin Chemerinsky and Eric Segall, 3/25).

San Francisco Chronicle: Open The U.S. Supreme Court To Televised Hearings
When the U.S. Supreme Court speaks, the nation listens. But it can't see. That's because the high court remains averse to televising its hearings. Barring a last-minute change of mind, the justices will refuse to allow cameras to broadcast six hours of hearings that begin Monday on the Obama administration health care law. … Staying behind closed doors while it weighs historic choices is the wrong position for the nation's top bench (3/26).

Boston Globe: Health Care Case Highlights Need For Supreme Court Cameras
Since no one except Supreme Court junkies is likely to go back and listen to the tape, the practical effect of the court's decision not to televise the hearings is that most Americans will learn about the case from pundits, in the crossfire manner of cable TV, in terms likely to reinforce political biases. The chance that average citizens will reconsider their positions based on legal arguments is greatly diminished (3/25).