It's time to allow cameras in federal courts, arguably the most powerful branch of government. Media reports about what happens in federal courts are incomplete and merely an interpretation of by reporters. Allowing TV cameras in courts would allow the public to directly see how judicial branch decisions are made.
In a victory for transparency that we should all hopes sticks, an advisory commission that recommends court rules on practices and procedures has started holding meetings open to the public. The open meetings are the result of a federal lawsuit and an order by the judge that said the First Amendment right of access to court proceedings likely requires the meetings to be open.
A federal judge in Nashville ruled that the press and the public likely have a First Amendment right of access to meetings of a court rules commission that recommends rules of procedure and practice for all Tennessee courts. U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson ordered that the meetings no longer be closed, and said opening the meetings will create public confidence and transparency, and likely result in better rules.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that an audio recording of a trial made by the court reporter is part of the court record and a public record subject to the state public records law. The ruling overturns a lower court decision that had upheld an East Tennessee judge's refusal to give a convicted killer the audio recording of his murder trial.
A federal judge declined on Tuesday to issue a temporary restraining order requested by a media organization that wanted to cover the Tennessee Judicial Conference annual meeting after getting assurances from a deputy attorney general that the meeting to take place on Wednesday was only an educational "CLE for judges."
