#SCOTUS doors should be opened so public can watch historic #AffordableCareAct ruling
’ Sen. Patrick Leahy (@SenatorLeahy) June 19, 2012
The Senate judiciary committee headed by senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday requesting that the august body allow live broadcast of its decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Sen. Leahy then followed up the formal letter by the tweet above on Tuesday.
In the letter, the senators wrote:
We believe that the issues in the case are as important and consequential as any in recent Court history. In conducting its review, the Court directed parties to address the constitutionalityof the act, the severability of the individual mandate, and the extent of the spending power ofCongress. Given the fundamental constitutional questions raised and the effects the decision willhave, the Court should be aware of the great interest Americans have in the outcome of this case.
Broadcasting the Court’s ruling would permit millions of citizens the opportunity to viewwhat so few can from the court’s small and limited public gallery.
And then the letter goes on to make its case by praising the marvels of “modern technology.”
Modem technology makestelevising the proceedings simple and unobtrusive. A minimal number of cameras in thecourtroom, which could be placed to be barely noticeable to all participants, would provide livecoverage of what may be one of the most historic rulings of our time.
It’s important to note here that the Supreme Court denied previous requests for a live broadcast of the oral arguments of the case from news organizations and Congress. In doing so it stuck by tradition, but in a break from the past, the high court didexpedite the release of the audio of recordings.
By Arundhati Parmar
Arundhati Parmar is the Medical Devices Reporter at MedCity News. She has covered medical technology since 2008 and specialized in business journalism since 2001. Parmar has three degrees from three continents - a Bachelor of Arts in English from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India; a Masters in English Literature from the University of Sydney, Australia and a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. She has sworn never to enter a classroom again.More posts by Author
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