Live, From the Nation’s Capital, It’s ... the Supreme Court

Bloomberg
Editorial
February 9, 2012

Porcinophobia, fear of hams, is the main thing keeping the justices of the Supreme Court from opening their proceedings to television. They are afraid that showoff lawyers will perform for the cameras, rather than for the court, thereby lowering the tone to the level of, well, television.

This would be an odd way for lawyers to react. After all, the most important consideration -- for themselves and their own futures, as well as for their clients -- will remain winning the case. And if the justices do let the cameras in, it will be with gritted teeth (if not over their dead bodies, as former Justice David Souter described his lack of enthusiasm). They are likely to be more hostile, not less, to any sign of hamming it up.

The question of the Supreme Court allowing cameras in its courtroom is not new -- that Souter quote is from 1996. But it has renewed relevance and urgency thanks to next month’s oral arguments over the constitutionality of the Obama administration’s health-care law, a five-and-a-half-hour marathon scheduled for March 26-28. The court is now considering requests from scores of lawmakers and media organizations, including Bloomberg News, to open its proceedings to TV cameras.

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