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Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Law

C-Span's Long And Winding Road To A Still Un-Televised Supreme Court, Bruce D. Collins Jan 2007

C-Span's Long And Winding Road To A Still Un-Televised Supreme Court, Bruce D. Collins

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

In 2005 when Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) first proposed legislation requiring the Supreme Court of the United States to televise its oral arguments, he resuscitated a twenty-plus-years long effort by several news organizations to achieve the same goal. For at least that long, C-SPAN has been ready to provide the same kind of video coverage of the federal judiciary as it has been providing of the Congress and the president. If cameras are ever permitted in the high Court’s chamber, C-SPAN will televise every minute of every oral argument, frequently on a live basis, and will do so in its …


Will It Make My Job Easier, Or What's In It For Me?, Kenneth N. Flaxman Jan 2007

Will It Make My Job Easier, Or What's In It For Me?, Kenneth N. Flaxman

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Putting aside philosophical questions about public access to government proceedings—what we now call “transparency”—and without regard to whether televising Supreme Court arguments is a logical extension of the common law’s “absolute personal right of reasonable access to court files” as described in 1977 by the Seventh Circuit in Rush v. United States, my real concern about whether Supreme Court arguments should be televised is somewhat narcissistic. Will it make my job—as a plaintiff’s civil rights lawyer who dabbles in criminal defense and post-conviction matters and who has had five adventures as “arguing counsel” in the Supreme Court—easier? I explain below …


Constitutional Etiquette And The Fate Of "Supreme Court Tv", Bruce Peabody Jan 2007

Constitutional Etiquette And The Fate Of "Supreme Court Tv", Bruce Peabody

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

In traditional media outlets, on the Internet, and throughout the halls of Congress, debate about whether the Supreme Court should be required to televise its public proceedings is becoming more audible and focused. To date, these discussions have included such topics as the potential effects of broadcasting the Court, the constitutionality of Senator Arlen Specter’s current congressional initiative, S. 344, and how the public would use or abuse televised sessions of our highest tribunal.


The Right Legislation For The Wrong Reasons, Tony Mauro Jan 2007

The Right Legislation For The Wrong Reasons, Tony Mauro

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Senator Arlen Specter took a bold and long-overdue step on January 22, 2007, when he introduced legislation that would require the Supreme Court to allow television coverage of its proceedings. But instead of making his case with a straightforward appeal to the public’s right to know, Specter has introduced arguments in favor of his bill that seem destined to antagonize the Court, drive it into the shadows, or both. Chances of passage might improve if Specter adjusts his tactics.


Gee Whiz, The Sky Is Falling!, Boyce F. Martin Jr. Jan 2007

Gee Whiz, The Sky Is Falling!, Boyce F. Martin Jr.

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

I am reminded of Chicken Little’s famous mantra as I listen to some Supreme Court Justices’ reactions to the prospect of televising oral arguments. Their fears—such as Justice Kennedy’s warning that allowing cameras in the courtroom may change the Court’s dynamics—are, in my opinion, overblown. And some comments, most notably Justice Souter’s famous exclamation in a 1996 House subcommittee hearing that “the day you see a camera come into our courtroom, it’s going to roll over my dead body,” make it sound as if the Justices have forgotten that our nation’s court system belongs to the public, not merely the …


University Of Michigan Law School Faculty, 07/08, University Of Michigan Law School Jan 2007

University Of Michigan Law School Faculty, 07/08, University Of Michigan Law School

Miscellaneous Law School History & Publications

Biographies of the University of Michigan Law School faculty.


From Habermas To "Get Rich Or Die Tryin": Hip Hop, The Telecommunications Act Of 1996, And The Black Public Sphere, Akilah N. Folami Jan 2007

From Habermas To "Get Rich Or Die Tryin": Hip Hop, The Telecommunications Act Of 1996, And The Black Public Sphere, Akilah N. Folami

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Article explores the manner in which gangsta rappers, who are primarily young urban Black men, navigate the mass media and rap's commercialization of the gangsta image to continue to provide seeds of political expression and resistance to that image. While other scholars have considered the political nature of rap in the context of the First Amendment, this Article's approach is unique in that it is the first to explore such concepts through the lenses of Habermas' ideal public sphere and those of his critics. While many have written gangsta rap off as being commercially co-opted or useless given its …


Granting Certiorari To Video Recording But Not To Televising, Scott C. Wilcox Jan 2007

Granting Certiorari To Video Recording But Not To Televising, Scott C. Wilcox

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Cameras are an understandable yet inapt target for Supreme Court Justices apprehensive about televising the high Court’s proceedings. Notwithstanding Justice Souter’s declaration to a congressional subcommittee in 1996 that cameras will have to roll over his dead body to enter the Court, the Justices’ public statements suggest that their objections are to televising—not to cameras. In fact, welcoming cameras to video record Court proceedings for archival purposes will serve the Justices’ interests well. Video recording can forestall legislation recently introduced in both houses of Congress that would require the Court to televise its proceedings. The Court’s desired result—the legislation disappearing …


Televising The Court: A Category Mistake (Symposium On Televising The Supreme Court), Christina B. Whitman Jan 2007

Televising The Court: A Category Mistake (Symposium On Televising The Supreme Court), Christina B. Whitman

Articles

The idea of televising Supreme Court oral arguments is undeniably appealing. Consequently, it is not surprising that reporters and politicians have been pressuring the Court to take this step. The other branches have been media-friendly for years, and Supreme Court arguments are already open to the public. Why should those of us who neither reside in Washington, D.C. nor have the time to attend Court proceedings be asked to depend on reporters for descriptions of the event? Even lower courts permit cameras. There is an understandable hunger for anything that will help us understand these nine individuals who have so …