"A leap not supported by history": The continuing story of cameras in the federal courts

Cameras are now permitted in the courts of 47 of the 50 states, but the Federal court system remains resolutely shuttered against them. After years of opposition, the retirement of Chief Justice Warren Burger opened the door to the first tentative efforts of the electronic news media to storm the Federal courts. But despite a successful three-year experiment that allowed electronic coverage of civil proceedings in selected Federal district and appellate courts, the Judicial Conference of the United States voted to terminate the experiment in September 1994. As the conference prepares to consider whether to reinstate access, high-profile trial coverage in the states continues to enliven the ongoing debate about whether the presence of cameras adversely affects the administration of justice.