Bill Allowing Cameras in High Court Advances

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would require the Supreme Court to permit camera coverage of its proceedings.

The measure, sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), would require the court to allow cameras unless a majority of the justices determined that the constitutional rights of a litigant would be violated in a particular case. The measure was approved on a 12-6 vote.

The high court has long resisted calls to allow television or radio coverage. Justice David H. Souter in 1996 told a congressional panel that cameras would enter the court’s hearing room “over my dead body.”