Lawmakers and media outlets alike are calling for a change in policy and asking the Supreme Court to allow television cameras to broadcast oral arguments in the litigation over the health care reform law.
C-SPAN has requested permission to televise the case and has offered to provide its coverage to other media outlets. In a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts Roberts, C-SPAN chairman and CEO Brian Lamb wrote, "It is a case which will affect every American's life, our economy, and will certainly be an issue in the upcoming presidential campaign.” Lamb further argued that "Interested citizens would be understandably challenged to adequately follow audio-only coverage of an event of this length with all the justices and various counsel participating,"
The Supreme Court has arranged for five and a half hours of oral arguments in the case, making it the longest hearing in years.
The high court has not yet responded to C-SPAN but if the past is any indication of the future, the court is likely to deny the request. Chief Justice Roberts has stated that the court doesn't “have oral arguments to show people, the public, how the court functions”.
However, beyond showing how the court works, cameras would enable the American people to witness how the justices arrive at the rulings that impact them.
To date, only Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan have suggested approval of camera access to the court. “I think if you put cameras in the courtroom, people would say ‘Wow.” They should see their government working at a really high level,” said Kagan as a US solicitor general in 2009.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa initially presented legislation to allow cameras in the courtroom in 1999 and although the high court began releasing audio of the oral arguments in high profile cases, cameras have yet to make it into the courtroom. Furthermore, audio is not available until the end of the week in which the oral arguments were heard.
“The constitutional questions presented in the case are momentous. The public has a right to witness the legal arguments likely to be presented in the case,” wrote Grassley in a letter to Chief Justice Roberts last week.
Grassley's sentiments are supported by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
"When the Affordable Care Act is placed before the highest court in our country, all Americans will have a stake in the debate; therefore, all Americans should have access to it. Openness and transparency are essential to the success of our democracy, and in this historic debate, we must ensure the ability of our citizens to take part," said Pelosi.
