Justice Sotomayor no longer backs television cameras in Supreme Court

[WestVirginiaRebel]

The Hill:

“I think the process could be more misleading than helpful,” she said. “It's like reading tea leaves. I think if people analyzed it, it is true that in almost every argument you can find a hint of what every judge would rule. But most justices are actually probing all the arguments."

Advocacy groups and members of Congress routinely press the court to televise its oral arguments, saying the public should have access to the deliberative process as the court works through major issues that affect the entire country.

The idea has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill but has met resistance from the court itself, specifically its older members. They've said the presence of cameras could reduce oral arguments to showmanship, as it has with congressional hearings.

Sotomayor, one of the court's youngest members, sounded open to the idea during her confirmation hearings. While remaining noncommittal, she said she had had "good experiences" with cameras in the courtroom and would relay those positive experiences to the rest of the court.

But by this week's appearance in her native New York, she had changed her mind. Introducing cameras would give the public a misleading impression of the court, and tough questioning designed to test the merits of each side's arguments would be seen as a sign of how the justices will ultimately rule, she said.

"Looking at oral argument is not going to give you that explanation. Oral argument is the forum in which the judge plays devil's advocate with lawyers," Sotomayor said, according to the magazine.

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Keeping the Supreme Court from turning into a circus?