The National Association of Science Writers Board of Directors co-signed a letter sent on Aug. 11, 2023 to the Judicial Conference of the United States. Led by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the signees urge the Judicial Conference to permit remote public audio access to civil and bankruptcy proceedings, including those in which a witness is testifying.
The letter, also posted online by the foundation, reads in part:
"More recently, the Conference announced that the temporary broadcasting exception for civil and bankruptcy proceedings would end on September 21, 2023. According to news reports, in September, the Committee on Court Administration and Case Management will recommend that the Conference authorize remote public audio access to civil and bankruptcy proceedings in which a witness is not testifying.
We agree that district courts should be permitted to provide remote public audio access to civil and bankruptcy proceedings without witnesses. However, we urge the Conference to authorize district courts to permit remote public audio access to all civil and bankruptcy proceedings, including those with witness testimony.
Federal and state courts successfully gave the public remote audio access to proceedings with witness testimony during the pandemic. As this experience shows, the public and the judicial system benefit tremendously from remote public audio access to proceedings with witness testimony, and it is possible to provide this access without compromising the integrity of proceedings or the courts’ work."
At the time of sending, the co-signed organizations included:
- Freedom of the Press Foundation
- Fix the Court
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Society of Magazine Editors
- Association of Health Care Journalists
- The Atlantic Monthly Group LLC
- Bloomberg L.P.
- Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC
- The Center for Investigative Reporting, Inc./Reveal
- Demand Progress Education Fund
- The E.W. Scripps Company
- First Amendment Coalition
- Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
- Free Law Project
- Gannett Co., Inc.
- Government Information Watch
- Institute for Nonprofit News
- The McClatchy Company, LLC
- The Media Institute
- National Association of Science Writers
- National Press Photographers Association
- NBCUniversal Media, LLC
- News/Media Alliance
- The New York Times Company
- Nexstar Media Inc.
- NPR
- Online News Association
- PEN America
- ProPublica, Inc.
- Radio Television Digital News Association
- Reuters News & Media Inc.
- Society of Environmental Journalists
- Tully Center for Free Speech
Update: On Sept. 12, 2023, the Judicial Conference announced a change to its broadcast policy for civil and bankruptcy proceedings that permits judges in those cases "to provide the public live audio access to non-trial proceedings that do not involve witness testimony." The new policy goes into effect on Sept. 22, 2023. While the change falls short of the coalition letter's positions — which supported the policy to permit live audio access for all proceedings including those with witness testimony — the Judicial Conference announcement says that the "CACM Committee is exploring possible ways to further expand remote public access to civil and bankruptcy proceedings and examining concerns about the potential impact on proceedings involving witness testimony."
To reach the NASW Board, email president@nasw.org
Founded in 1934 with a mission to fight for the free flow of science news, NASW is an organization of ~2,600 professional journalists, authors, editors, producers, public information officers, students and people who write and produce material intended to inform the public about science, health, engineering, and technology. To learn more, visit www.nasw.org
