"This is the focusing event, and this puts more pressure on the court just because of the high level of interest," said Lawrence Baum, a political science professor at Ohio State University in Columbus.
The court has given no indication it will relent on its ban of live broadcasts, and court observers said it was unlikely. Even as Americans have come to expect live coverage of news events, the justices have made their marble courtroom a technology-free zone, barring spectators from using recording devices, phones, and cameras. The court releases its own audio recordings at the end of the week and has never allowed video, even on a delayed basis.
Justices are considering requests from a dozen lawmakers and more than 30 media organizations, including Bloomberg News, seeking live coverage. They say there is a strong national interest in watching live arguments over an issue that touches everyone and affects the economy and the election.
Arguments over the health-care law should be broadcast live because the 2010 measure is "the most sweeping thing that's passed Congress since Medicaid, Social Security and civil rights," said Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Grassley is pushing legislation requiring the court to allow cameras unless a majority of justices conclude that the coverage would violate a party's rights to due process. Similar measures haven't advanced in Congress in previous years.
"It will take the mystery out of the court system and help educate people about the judicial branch like they're educated about Congress now that Congress is televised," Grassley said in an interview.
