{"id":2616019,"date":"2026-06-19T07:58:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/televising-supreme-court-hearings-is-a-terrible-awful-no-good-idea\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T07:58:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:58:54","slug":"televising-supreme-court-hearings-is-a-terrible-awful-no-good-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/televising-supreme-court-hearings-is-a-terrible-awful-no-good-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Televising Supreme Court Hearings Is A Terrible Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftelevising-supreme-court-hearings-is-a-terrible-awful-no-good-idea%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2616019&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article critiques recent efforts by the U.S. Congress, especially the Senate Judiciary Committee, to pass bills that would allow the televised livestreaming of Supreme Court and federal court proceedings. Sponsored by Senators Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin,these measures aim to enhance openness by permitting cameras in courtrooms,which critics argue is needless and perhaps counterproductive. The author contends that such initiatives overlook the current state of political discourse, which has become performative and spectacle-driven, suggesting that televised court proceedings might only amplify theatrics and sensationalism. The piece emphasizes that what Americans truly need is a Congress that functions seriously, rather than more staged broadcasts of courtroom and legislative drama, as the push for televised courtrooms is seen as a misplaced effort at transparency.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span>Photo by Shawn Fleetwood       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/19\/televising-supreme-court-hearings-is-a-terrible-awful-no-good-idea\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Televising Supreme Court Hearings Is A Terrible, Awful, No Good Idea&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/19\/televising-supreme-court-hearings-is-a-terrible-awful-no-good-idea\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Televising Supreme Court Hearings Is A Terrible, Awful, No Good Idea&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/19\/televising-supreme-court-hearings-is-a-terrible-awful-no-good-idea\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/19\/televising-supreme-court-hearings-is-a-terrible-awful-no-good-idea\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Televising Supreme Court Hearings Is A Terrible, Awful, No Good Idea&#038;body=Americans don&#039;t need cameras in the courtroom. What they need is a Congress that functions like a serious body.%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/19\/televising-supreme-court-hearings-is-a-terrible-awful-no-good-idea\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &#038; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>It really is amazing the number of ways Congress finds to waste American taxpayers\u2019 time and money.<\/p>\n<p>As if there aren\u2019t any other pressing matters to attend to, the Senate Judiciary Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/committee-activity\/hearings\/executive-business-meeting-06-18-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">advanced<\/a> a pair of bills on Thursday allowing for the Supreme Court and other federal courts to televise their courtroom proceedings to the public. Both measures passed by voice vote and now head to the full Senate for consideration, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-bob-good-jim-banks-introduce-bill-to-stop-bidens-costly-freeze-on-student-loan-payments\/\" title=\"Exclusive: Bob Good, Jim Banks Introduce Bill to Stop Biden&#039;s Costly Freeze on Student Loan Payments\">committee press release<\/a>. <\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3354364540\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 fdrlst__b89e9-entity-placement\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Sponsored by Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ranking Member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/senate-bill\/1146\/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cameras in the Courtroom Act<\/a> would \u201cpermit television coverage of all open sessions of the [Supreme] Court unless the Court decides, by a vote of the majority of justices, that allowing such coverage in a particular case would constitute a violation of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/group-our-vote-matters-is-suing-facebook-dominion-mark-zuckerberg-certain-state-officials-others-for-infringing-upon-right-to-vote-assemble-and-speak-freely-you-can-jo\/\" title=\"Group \u201cOur Vote Matters... Is Suing Facebook, Dominion, Mark Zuckerberg, Certain State Officials, Others for Infringing Upon Right to Vote, Assemble and Speak Freely \u2013 You Can Join Too\">due process rights<\/a> of 1 or more of the parties before the Court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/senate-bill\/1133\/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sunshine in the Courtroom Act<\/a> \u2014 sponsored by Grassley, Durbin, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and others \u2014 would similarly extend this option to federal appellate and district courts. The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >bill includes additional provisions related<\/a> to witness and juror protection and procedures for enacting such guidelines.<\/p>\n<p>Under current practice, the Supreme Court livestreams audio of its oral arguments and releases transcripts of the hearings following their conclusion. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courthousenews.com\/through-the-lens-of-justice-senate-advances-bills-allowing-cameras-in-federal-courtrooms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a> by Courthouse News, the federal judiciary has \u201clong prohibited attendees and the media from recording court in session.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bills\u2019 proponents predictably rushed to portray them as a step toward ensuring judicial \u201ctransparency.\u201d By televising these proceedings, they claimed, Americans would become better informed about what goes on in courtrooms around the country.<\/p>\n<p>But can anybody who\u2019s tuned into a congressional hearing over the past few years really claim with a straight face that putting government officials on camera has benefited America? Sure, citizens can see lawmakers\u2019 deliberations on their TV or phone screens, but what specific advantage are they getting from it? <\/p>\n<p>What were once intended to be serious floor debates and hearings have devolved into performative slugfests. Representatives and senators alike aren\u2019t focused on debating great matters of public policy so much as they are trying to one-up one another and grab coveted soundbites for cable news and social media. <\/p>\n<p>There is no reason to believe putting cameras in the courtroom would yield a different result. <\/p>\n<p>Rogue judges are <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/18\/rogue-judges-are-crippling-the-constitution-one-egregious-ruling-at-a-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">already becoming theatrical<\/a> in their overreaching rulings against the Trump administration and Republicans. Putting them on camera would just give them the chance to broadcast those dramatics out into the information sphere for their media fanbase.<\/p>\n<p>And if that argument wasn\u2019t convincing enough, think of it this way: If <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ketanji-brown-jackson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ketanji Brown Jackson\u2019s<\/a> oral argument <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bTbIX7lSr0s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">antics<\/a> sound bad on audio, imagine how much worse she\u2019d be on camera. It\u2019d be like giving Hunter Biden a bag of coke and the neighborhood hooker\u2019s phone number and expecting him to behave himself.<\/p>\n<p>Americans don\u2019t need cameras in the courtroom. What they need is a Congress that functions like a serious body. It\u2019s a shame that today\u2019s lawmakers are incapable of being that. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/amy-klobuchar\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Amy Klobuchar<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/cameras\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">cameras<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/chuck-grassley\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Chuck Grassley<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/dick-durbin\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Dick Durbin<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ketanji-brown-jackson\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Ketanji Brown Jackson<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/oral-arguments\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">oral arguments<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/scotus\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">SCOTUS<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/senate-judiciary-committee\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Senate Judiciary Committee<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/theatrics\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">theatrics<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congress wastes time with court TV bills<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2616021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Supreme-Court-scaled.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4901,32275,52130],"class_list":["post-2616019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-justice","tag-supreme-court","tag-television-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Supreme-Court-scaled.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2616019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2616019"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2616019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2616023,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2616019\/revisions\/2616023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2616021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2616019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2616019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2616019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}