C-SPAN puts the pressure on Neil Gorsuch to okay TV cameras in the Supreme Court

(Image credit: Screenshot/C-SPAN)

last updated 18 March 2017

The public affairs network C-SPAN has long argued for the Supreme Court to allow TV cameras to record its oral arguments, and in the sensitive days ahead of the hearings for Neil Gorsuch, C-SPAN has zeroed in on Trump's nominee as a potential ally to their cause.

On Friday, C-SPAN rolled out a video featuring the replies of all the current justices when asked about TV coverage of the Supreme Court. Answers range from Judge John Roberts claiming in 2005 that "television cameras are nothing to be afraid of but I don't have a set view on that" to Judge Anthony Kennedy arguing in 1987 that "it might make me and my colleagues behave differently than they would otherwise."

C-SPAN also released a survey showing that the decisions of the Supreme Court are of the utmost interest to the American people — 90 percent of respondents agreed that "decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court have an impact on my everyday life as a citizen." The survey also found that 76 percent of voters agree the Supreme Court "should allow television coverage of its oral arguments." The poll reached 1,032 likely voters between March 7-9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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