Judicial Conference Opposed Televised Federal Trials

When asked about television cameras in the courtroom and Senate Bill 829 which would grant federal judges the discretion to allow television cameras in the courtroom, Jeffrey J. Greenbaum, Co-Chair of the Section of Litigation’s Federal Practice Task Force, stated: “Whenever Congress meddles in the judicial process and procedures, there have generally not been very good results…[the bill would have] “unintended and untoward consequences.” “Television cameras have a real danger of making witnesses even more nervous in a situation already packed with tension…[He believes that potential] “grandstanding by lawyers and even judges in the public eye may interfere with the mission of the court system to judge cases in an impartial manner. Televised trials introduce the danger that lawyers will start playing to the public instead of to the judge and jury.”