Lloyd D. Levenson’s – “Life at the Shore” There is an old saying that those who like sausage or who respect the law should never watch either one of them being made. Strangely enough, the Justices of the United States Supreme Court, whether liberal, conservative, or moderate, all seem to agree with this principle. The late Chief Justice Rehnquist, long an icon of judicial conservatives, was strongly against cameras in the Supreme Court, as is the current Chief, John Roberts. Justice Sonia Sotomayer, a favorite of liberals and feminists, testified at her confirmation hearings in 2009 that she was all in favor of letting citizens watch their government at work in the Courtroom. Her public position now, however, is that American citizens would not comprehend what is going on. Justice Elena Kagan, who also stated at her confirmation hearings that television coverage of the Supreme Court “would be a great thing for the institution,” now states that she is afraid “that people might play to the camera.” These two arguments: (1) that the public is too stupid to understand what is going on; and (2) that the Supreme Court Justices would be tempted to emulate Simon Cowell or Nicki Minaj and mug for the camera, are the most prevalent concerns registered. In my opinion, neither of these objections have any merit. I believe they are directly contrary to the central principle of American justice, which favors transparency and openness at virtually every step of a proceeding. As John F. Kennedy stated in his famous address to newspaper publishers in April of 1961, “the very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society. . . . We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers, which are cited to justify it.” If, as the doubters insist, the public is too ignorant to understand what goes on before the United States Supreme Court, is the answer to keep the public in ignorance or to open the doors and make them aware of what is happening? I favor the latter approach. If there are Justices of the United States Supreme Court who will “play up” to the cameras, and somehow shirk their duty to decide cases fairly and impartially, should the public not be made aware of this? Or is it better to simply sweep this fact under the rug? These issues came to the fore again recently during the highly publicized Supreme Court arguments on “same sex” marriage, when thousands of people attempted to obtain precious tickets for the few gallery spots available to watch the Supreme Court in action and to hear the arguments being made. The notion that only the small and elite group who scored tickets could watch the Supreme Court, while the rest of us were relegated to news reports later in the day, is wholly unacceptable. We need only look at other high courts which have opened their doors to wide press coverage, and which have experienced no ill effects, to see that the “concerns” usually cited are illusory. The United Kingdom’s Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the New Jersey Supreme Court all have live television or webcasts of their arguments. None of these august bodies have descended into chaos because of television cameras. The United States Supreme Court has increasingly been the well-spring of important new legal principles, dealing with areas considered “too hot to handle” by the Legislature or the Executive. Their decisions effect the lives of Americans on a daily basis. The notion that we are too ignorant to watch the Supreme Court is insulting and elitist. At the same time, the claim that the Justices themselves lack the maturity to resist “playing to the camera” during oral argument is contemptuous of the exceptional men and women who are selected to serve on this nation’s highest Court. The time has come to take the heavy, dusty drapes off the windows and to let the sun shine into that beautiful building in Washington where the United States Supreme Court sits. Lloyd D. Levenson is Chief Executive Officer of the Atlantic City-based law firm Cooper Levenson and Chairman of the firm’s Casino Law Departments in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Mr. Levenson may be reached at (609)344-3161 or by email at ldlevenson@cooperlevenson.com. The Boardwalk Journal | May 2013 | 31
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