Cameras were definitely permitted in the courtroom...

Cameras were definitely permitted in the courtroom Friday as former California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird was back on the bench, presiding over a book-banning case involving First Amendment guarantees of freedom of religion, speech, press and peaceful assembly.

She was, however, simply performing on a Hollywood set for a special “Superior Court” television series being taped for broadcast during the week of Feb. 23 to mark the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. Five significant constitutional cases that reached the high court will be re-enacted.

Although she could not change the results of last November’s election, Bird rewrote the television script a little. She shortened a few lines and revised the wording of her opinion to, she explained, better reflect the way she would deliver it in an actual courtroom.

In addition to Bird, judges presiding over the trial re-creations will be former federal appellate judge and U.S. Education Secretary Shirley Hufstedler, U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Arthur L. Alarcon, former Superior Court Judge Delbert Wong and Bernard Jefferson, retired presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal.