Connolly, Quigley, Nadler, Norton Introduce Amendment to Increase Transparency at the Supreme Court

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, introduced an amendment to the FY25 FSGG appropriations bill to encourage and support livestreaming at the Supreme Court. Connolly was joined in introducing the amendment by Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL), Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).

"As recent revelations about the unethical behavior of Justices Thomas and Alito have demonstrated, our nation's highest court is in desperate need of transparency and reform," said Connolly. "The Supreme Court is not some mystical priesthood that can operate outside of the public view. It is a coequal branch of government and must be accountable to the American public. This amendment emphasizes the need to restore trust in an institution that for too long has operated in the dark. Without reform that can bring accountability and transparency to the Supreme Court, I, like Justice Sotomayor, fear for our democracy."

The Supreme Court currently allocates roughly 50 seats for the general public to witness cases. This significantly limits the public and the media to one-dimensional and sometimes distorted views of the Justices' actions. State and federal courts, including all 50 state supreme courts, already allow recording equipment to various degrees.

This amendment would increase and decrease the Supreme Court's budget by $25,000, the estimated cost for Circuit Court to install livestreaming cappabilities during the pandemic.

This amendment builds on the Cameras in the Courtroom Act, legislation authored by Rep. Connolly that would require livestreaming at all open proceedings before the United States Supreme Court.

Text of the amendment is available here.

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