Roberts Hearings: Nominee Won’t Commit To Televised Supreme Court Hearings

Quoting C-SPAN’s press release: “Senator [Chuck] Grassely (R-IA) asked Judge John Roberts his views on including television cameras in the Supreme Court during his Senate confirmation hearings today.”

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GRASSLEY: Are you against cameras in the courtroom like Justice Rehnquist was? ROBERTS: Well, you know, my new best friend, Senator Thompson, assures me that television cameras are nothing to be afraid of. But I don’t have a set view on that. I do think it’s something that I would have to be — I would want to listen to the views if I were confirmed to my colleagues.

“Americans can watch every event of national importance on television except for oral arguments at the Supreme Court,” Sen. Russ Feingold weighed in. “If you’re confirmed, you will be essentially disappearing from public view. This hearing will in some ways be the last time that the nation will see you at work…I think it would benefit the country and the court if all Americans had a chance to see the court conduct its work.”

But Roberts still wouldn’t answer the question definitively…