Public access TV provider C-SPAN is calling on the Supreme Court to televise oral arguments for the first time during upcoming hearings over the Trump administration’s attempt to end birthright citizenship.
“This case holds profound national significance,” C-SPAN CEO Sam Feist wrote the court in a letter dated April 23. “Its implications — legal, political, and personal — will affect millions of Americans. In light of this, we believe the public interest is best served through live television coverage of the proceedings. The public deserves to witness—fully and directly—how such a consequential issue is argued before the highest court in the land.”
The non-profit argued that televising the hearings, which begin May 15, will “strengthen our democracy and deepen public understanding and appreciation of the judicial process.”
C-SPAN has not received a response to the letter, it told The Independent.
The Independent has contacted the Supreme Court for comment.
Allowing TV cameras into the Supreme Court chambers would be the biggest development in public access to the high court since audio recordings of oral argument went live in 2020 during the height of the Covid pandemic.
The Trump administration has an emergency request before the court, asking the justices to narrow or end nationwide injunctions against the executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship.
Courts and most legal scholars have argued Trump’s order, which he signed his first day in office, likely violates the citizenship guarantees of the 14th Amendment.
The Trump years have seen the intensely private court take on a more public-facing role.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare public statement earlier this year after the Trump administration attacked and tried to remove a federal judge overseeing a case about its emergency deportation flights to El Salvador.
"For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,” he said.
The court was also forced to launch an internal investigation after a draft version leaked of its 2022 order overturning the constitutional right to an abortion.
In January 2023, the court said it had been unable to discern who leaked the opinion.
