Attack Update: January 22, 2007

• The Radical: Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA)
• The Attack: Senator Specter introduced S. 344, a bill that would require the Supreme Court to televise its “open proceedings.”
• The Significance: The argument here is not that the Supreme Court should or should not have cameras in the courtroom; it is that this bill is attempting to remove from the Court their authority to decide an internal matter that concerns the Court’s operating procedures. If Congress can mandate cameras in the courtroom, what else can it do to control how the Supreme Court runs its proceedings? This topic received much discussion at a recent symposium of the Michigan Law Review.