Senator Chuck Grassley gave the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court today released audio tapes of the oral arguments from Northwest Austin Mun. Util. v. Holder. The Supreme Court made available the recordings after a request from C-SPAN, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Fox News. This is the first time in the current term that the Court has expedited the release of the audio recordings of an argument on the same day that the argument was held.
In 2000, at the urging of Grassley and Senator Chuck Schumer, the Supreme Court – for the first time ever – released an audio broadcast of Bush v. Gore, resulting in a more informed public. The audiotape followed the live broadcast of the Florida Supreme Court’s deliberations of the case and certification of the vote.
Grassley and Schumer are authors of legislation to allow federal trial and appellate court judges to permit cameras in the courtroom. The Senators have led efforts over the last several years to ensure the sun shines in on the federal courts.
Here is a comment from Grassley on today’s release of the audio recordings.
“This is another step forward in allowing cameras to shed light on an area of government that is unknown to many Americans. Actions like this will help give people a better understanding of our federal judiciary. During his confirmation hearing, Chief Justice Roberts appeared to have an open mind to giving the media more coverage of federal courtrooms across the country. I hope he continues to further provide the American people access to our federal judicial system.”