Litigation

Broad Support Shown for Televising Supreme Court

By Peter Hardin

More than 60 percent of voters recently polled by PublicMind, a research project of Fairleigh Dickinson University, favored televising the proceedings of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The respondents supported televising the high court proceedings as “good for democracy,” according to a National Law Journal article. Another 26 percent of respondents were opposed, fearing that televising the proceedings would undermine the Court’s “dignity or authority.”

The high court long has resisted cameras in its stately courtroom. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., has introduced a resolution to get the “sense of the Senate” on cameras in the high court.

The poll also showed support by more than one-half of voters for restricting Supreme Court justices to serving 18 years on the bench. They currently serve for life. To learn more about cameras in the courtroom, click on Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on March 11, 2010 (boomark / email).