Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) has told The National Law Journal that the Judicial Conference's newly announced experiment with camera access in federal district courts won't deter him from pushing his bill to require cameras in the Supreme Court.
In approving the experiment, the Judicial Conference was in part responding to congressional pressure on the issue of broadcast access to courts. But Specter, in an interview late Tuesday, dismissed the pilot project as a "will o' the wisp" that is not "very meaningful."
The 80-year-old Specter also spoke about his plans after leaving the Senate. The full story on the interview appears in the latest issue of Supreme Court Insider, which was delivered free by e-mail earlier today to those who have registered here.
Perhaps the outgoing senator has forgotten about the separation of powers. Only Supreme Court justices can decide if and when they'll accept cameras in their courtroom. Any machinations on the part of the legislative branch, and particularly those of a lame-duck octogenarian legislator, are meaningless.
Posted by: Darren McKinney | September 20, 2010 at 12:09 PM