Gizmodo – “For the first time in more than a decade, a legislative effort to capture Supreme Court hearings and other federal court proceedings on camera has cleared the Senate committee. On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved two bills aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in the nation’s highest courts. The Cameras in the Courtroom Act “requires the Supreme Court to permit television coverage of all open sessions of the court,” although the justices can still vote to deny broadcasts if they believe such coverage could directly impact the proceedings. The second bill, the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act, grants judges in all federal courts the discretion to allow cameras in the courtroom provided that the identities of witnesses and jurors are protected when necessary.