S. 657 · 111th Congress
Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2009
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 111th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
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GrassleySponsor9 cosponsors · 6 D, 3 R
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Cornyn
RD
D
Durbin
RF
D
Feingold
LG
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Graham
PL
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Leahy
CS
D
Schumer
AS
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Specter
AK
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Klobuchar
EK
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Kaufman7 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2009 - Authorizes the presiding judge of a U.S. appellate court or U.S. district court to permit the photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising to the public of court proceedings over which that judge presides, except when such action would constitute a violation of the due process rights of any party.
What it does: CRS summary · Reported to Senate without amendment · Apr 29, 2010
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2009 - Authorizes the presiding judge of a U.S. appellate court or U.S. district court to permit the photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising to the public of court proceedings over which that judge presides, except when such action would constitute a violation of the due process rights of any party.
Directs: (1) a district court, upon the request of any witness in a trial proceeding other than a party, to order the face and voice of the witness to be disguised or otherwise obscured to render the witness unrecognizable to the broadcast audience of the trial proceeding; and (2) the presiding judge in a trial proceeding to inform each witness who is not a party of the right to make such request.
Authorizes the Judicial Conference of the United States to promulgate advisory guidelines to which a presiding judge may refer in making decisions regarding the management and administration of photographing, recording, broadcasting, or televising described in this Act.
Requires the Judicial Conference of the United States to promulgate mandatory guidelines which a presiding judge must follow for obscuring certain vulnerable witnesses.
Prohibits broadcast of conferences between attorneys and clients.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2009
Latest action (Apr 29, 2010): Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 361.
Policy area: Law · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Mar 19, 2009
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.