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Cameras Come to the Supreme Court -- in HD, No Less
The National Law Journal
August 10, 2009
While he was a Supreme Court justice, David Souter zealously discouraged any small attempts to bring broadcast media into the Supreme Court, under the "camel's nose" theory -- once they had even the slightest amount of access, the media would soon be demanding, and probably gaining, full access to Court proceedings, he feared.
Well, just more than a month after Souter retired, the camel and the camera are inside the tent. The Supreme Court's surprise announcement Friday afternoon that part of nominee Sonia Sotomayor's oath-taking at the Court on Saturday would be televised marks the first time, as far as anyone can recall, that such an event at the Court would be broadcast.
At least one of the oaths taken by every current justice from Clarence Thomas on has been televised, but those events took place at the White House, not the Court. A White House source indicated Friday that notwithstanding that practice, President Barack Obama made it clear from the start that, out of respect for the Court's independence, the entire ceremony should be at the Court, not the White House. As The National Law Journal reported last week, that's likely to be welcome news at the Court, where justices over the years have disapproved of White House oath-taking.
Several sources indicated Friday that the television networks did not actively seek camera access to the Sotomayor proceedings at the Court, and where the idea was hatched is unclear. But it will give the public a rare live glimpse of the East Conference Room, where Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. will administer the judicial oath to Sotomayor. The oak-paneled room has seen cameras before, most notably for Justice Thurgood Marshall's retirement press conference in 1991, and for other events and interviews. But televising an actual oath-taking is a first.
Will more camera access inside the Court follow Saturday's extraordinary event? It's not likely to happen soon, but stay tuned.
This article first appeared on The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.
