No Changes on Cameras in Federal Court
On August 3, nearly 40 Members of Congress publicly urged administrators of the Judicial Conference to override the longstanding rule regarding photography, and to make an exception and “explicitly authorize the broadcasting of court proceedings in the cases of United States of America v. Donald J. Trump. The Judicial Conference serves as the policymaking body for the federal courts and it convenes twice a year to consider administrative and policy issues affecting the federal court system.
Democratic lawmakers, led by Rep. Adam Schiff, made their request by stating: “Given the historic nature of the charges brought forth in these cases, [which include alleged conspiracies to violate peoples' rights and defraud the nation] it is hard to imagine a more powerful circumstance for televised proceedings.” The Judicial Conference of the United States met Tuesday, but despite the numerous calls from lawmakers to amend the rules regarding televising federal court proceedings, the judicial body made no substantive changes to the rules.
The group’s meetings are closed to the public, but according to a member who attended the session, the body did not take up or discuss the issue of allowing cameras into the courts for Trump’s two federal criminal trials at all. The conference’s rules have barred cameras in the federal courts since the criminal rules were adopted in 1946. In 1972, the rules were amended to adopt a prohibition against "broadcasting, televising, recording, or taking photographs in the courtroom and areas immediately adjacent thereto."
Recently, the public was granted temporary permission to watch or listen to federal hearings during the pandemic. The conference announced on Tuesday that they would continue to allow audio access to some civil and bankruptcy hearings, but the embargo on criminal cases will stay well in place. In late August Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee granted a request from four local television stations to bring live cameras and other recording devices into his courtroom for the arraignments of the defendants involved in Trump’s criminal RICO case. McAfee’s order at that time did not indicate whether cameras will be allowed during a trial or any other future proceedings in the case.
In addition to the two federal cases Trump faces, he has also been charged in New York, but that state doesn’t allow broadcasting from the courtroom. These three trials are each set for next year, but a firm date for Trump and the majority of his other co-defendants has yet to be finalized. The judicial conference is set to meet again in February, although no one from the panel has indicated that the body will take up the issue of cameras in the courtroom at that time. According to the judiciary’s website, the matter is “pending consideration,” and committees can recommend new or revised rules for the conference to review at that time.
While public pressure appears to be the most persuasive catalyst for effecting change with regard to the rules set by the federal courts, the longstanding tradition of prohibiting cameras might be too much of an obstacle to overcome. Given that Fulton County has made allowances for cameras in the courtroom thus far, it also appears that the public thirst for a live recording of the events at any of Trump’s numerous trials, might well be satiated by allowing public access to the Georgia case.
For more on this issue, read:
Amee Vanderpool writes the SHERO Newsletter, is an attorney, published author, contributor to newspapers and magazines, and an analyst for BBC radio. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.
Paid subscriptions and one-time tributes embedded in each article allow me to keep publishing critical and informative work that is sometimes made available to the public — thank you. If you like this piece and want to support independent journalism further, you can forward this article to others, get a paid subscription or gift subscription, or donate as much as you like today.
It would benefit all of us if Trump's various trials were televised. If nothing else, it would make at least slightly more difficult for him and his cheerleading section in Congress and the right wing media echosphere, etc., to lie about what was being said/done.
I fully expect to see pirated portions of the court hearings in MAGA produced videos shared on social media. That way the "fake news" narratives will reshape reality yet again.