Letter to John Roberts, Chief Justice - Live Audio to the Courtroom

Letter

Dear Chief Justice Roberts:

Given the historic nature of the Supreme Court's upcoming rulings on same-sex marriage and the Affordable Care Act, among other cases, we write to urge the Court to provide the American people with access to live audio of its court proceedings for the first time.

Today, every American has access to many of the proceedings of the legislative and the executive branches of our government through C-SPAN and live streaming online. However, even in 2015, one branch of our government remains almost completely closed from the public eye: the U.S. Supreme Court. People may disagree on the outcome of any given case, but we can all agree that the American public is better served when all three branches of our government are transparent and accessible.

We applaud the Court's efforts to increase transparency by requiring the release of same-day transcripts and end-of-the-week audio. We are also encouraged by the recent decision to release same-day audio in some limited cases. These efforts demonstrate that the Court has the capability to release live audio. The enhanced transparency that would come from live audio broadcasts of public proceedings would allow people to better understand how our third branch of government operates and more closely track the many important cases that are decided.

We continue to believe that the Court should permit live video broadcasts and support bipartisan legislation to make that happen. We look forward to a debate about the merits of permitting cameras in the Court. In the meantime, the Court should immediately permit live audio broadcasts of its proceedings.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the Court will announce opinions in closely-watched cases that will impact the lives of millions of individuals and families across America. Accordingly, the Court should provide the American people the opportunity to hear in real time the arguments and opinions that will shape our society for years to come.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.