Bill > S405

This bill, titled the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2013, aims to allow for media coverage of Federal court proceedings by granting presiding judges discretion to permit photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising of court proceedings, with specific exceptions and guidelines. For appellate courts, a judge can allow media coverage unless a majority of participating judges determine it would violate due process rights. In district courts, judges can permit media coverage, but witnesses have the right to have their faces and voices obscured if requested, and the judge must inform them of this right; however, this authority for district courts would expire three years after the bill's enactment. The bill also prohibits media coverage of jurors and jury selection, allows judges to obscure individuals if their safety, court security, law enforcement operations, or the interest of justice is threatened, and mandates the Judicial Conference of the United States to create mandatory guidelines for protecting vulnerable witnesses, such as crime victims and minors, within six months of enactment. Importantly, the bill clarifies that decisions on media coverage cannot be challenged through interlocutory appeals, and it does not limit a court's inherent authority to protect witnesses or maintain courtroom decorum.