[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 48 (Thursday, March 19, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S3567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Leahy, Mr. 
        Specter, Mr. Graham, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Durbin):
  S. 657. A bill to provide for media coverage of Federal court 
proceedings; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this week, the Nation celebrates the fifth 
annual Sunshine Week--a time when open Government advocates raise their 
voices to renew the call for open and transparent Government. Our 
democracy works best when citizens know what their Government is doing. 
There is no more appropriate time to recommit ourselves to defending 
the public's right to know.
  Today, I am pleased to join Senators Grassley and Schumer to 
reintroduce the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2009. This bipartisan 
bill will improve access to Federal court proceedings for members of 
the public who are unable to travel to the courthouse. In the 
information age, providing the American people access to Federal courts 
is possible like never before. Not all Americans are able to invest the 
time and money in travelling to witness public courtroom proceedings.
  I commend Senator Grassley for his leadership over the last decade to 
expand access to the courts. A bipartisan majority of the Senate 
Judiciary Committee voted to report this legislation in the last 
Congress, but further consideration stalled on the Senate floor. I hope 
our efforts to pass this legislation will be successful this year.
  The Federal courts serve as a bulwark for the protection of 
individual rights and liberties, and the Supreme Court is often the 
final arbiter of Constitutional questions that have a profound effect 
on all Americans. Allowing the public greater access to Federal courts 
will deepen Americans' understanding of the work that goes on in the 
courts. As a result, Americans can be better informed about how 
important judicial decisions are made.
  I have continually supported efforts in Congress to make our 
Government more transparent and accessible. During my more than 3 
decades in the Senate, I have worked to make Federal agencies more open 
and accountable to the public through a reinvigorated Freedom of 
Information Act, FOIA, and last year, the first major reforms to FOIA 
were enacted with the passage of the Leahy-Cornyn OPEN Government Act. 
I have also supported efforts to make the work of Congress more open to 
the American people. Just this week, I introduced the OPEN FOIA Act, 
which would require Congress to openly and clearly state its intention 
to provide for statutory exemptions to FOIA in proposed legislation. 
The freedom of information is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. 
For more than 4 decades, FOIA has been among the most important Federal 
laws that protect the public's right to know.
  The work of the Federal judiciary is also open to the public. 
Proceedings in Federal courtrooms around this country are open to the 
public, and jurists publish extensive opinions explaining the reasons 
for their judgments and decisions. Nevertheless, more can and must be 
done to increase access to the Federal courts. All 50 States currently 
allow some form of audio or video coverage of court proceedings, but 
the Federal courts lag behind. The legislation we introduce today 
simply extends this tradition of openness to the Federal level.
  Although this bill permits presiding appellate and district court 
judges to allow cameras in most public Federal court proceedings, it 
does not require that they do so. An exception is carved out for 
instances where a camera would violate the due process rights of an 
involved party. At the same time, the bill protects non-party witnesses 
by giving them the right to have their voices and images obscured 
during their testimony. I believe these protections strike the proper 
balance between security needs and the protection of personal privacy, 
while at the same time ensuring the public will always have a right to 
know what their Government is doing.
  Finally, the bill authorizes the Judicial conference of the U.S. to 
issue advisory guidelines for use by presiding judges in determining 
the management and administration of photographing, recording, 
broadcasting, or televising the proceedings.
  In 1994, the Judicial conference concluded that it was not the right 
time to permit cameras in the Federal courts, and rejected a 
recommendation of the Court Administration and Case Management 
Committee to authorize the use of cameras in Federal civil trial and 
appellate courts. A majority of the Conference was concerned about the 
intimidating effect of cameras on some witnesses and jurors.
  I understand that the Judicial conference remains opposed to cameras 
in the Federal courts, and I am sensitive to the conference's concerns. 
But this legislation grants the presiding judge the authority to 
evaluate the effect of a camera on particular proceedings and 
witnesses, and decide accordingly on whether to permit the camera into 
the courtroom. A blanket prohibition on cameras is an unnecessary 
limitation on the discretion of the presiding judge.
  This legislation is an important step towards making the work of the 
Federal judiciary more widely available for public scrutiny. I hope all 
Senators will join us in bringing more transparency to the Federal 
courts.
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