Smile, SCOTUS!

 Law360 reports 7th Circ. Pick OK'd As Senate Pushes Cameras in High Court about:

 the full Senate along mostly partisan lines voted 53-40 to approve Candace Jackson-Akiwumi for the Midwest appeals court, covering Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

the Senate Judiciary Committee cleared the bipartisan Cameras in the Courtroom Act, sponsored by the committee's chairman, Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; ranking Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa; and Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

The bill, which passed the committee 14-9 and will now go the Senate floor, requires the Supreme Court to permit television coverage of all open sessions of the court "unless it decides by majority vote that allowing such coverage in a particular case would violate the due process rights of any of the parties involved," according to a congressional summary.

Supporters said it would be healthy for U.S. democracy for U.S. citizens, beyond the few who are able to obtain seats for oral arguments in Washington, to witness the high court in action. However, some judiciary members voiced reservations, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R- Texas, who contended that video feeds could be problematic by casting arguments in a political light.