The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is streaming the oral arguments in the State of Washington’s challenge to President Donald Trump's "travel ban" executive order. Washington state sued and obtained a temporary restraining order, which the Justice Department wants overturned.
The move drew praise from Fix the Court executive Director Gabe Roth, who has long pushed for greater transparency, including video and audio, in federal courts.
"There is no better way to experience the work of our federal judiciary than first-hand via modern technology.
The finer points of immigration law - and which branch ultimately gets to decide who enters the country - are complicated, and as the debate over the travel ban continues, there is value to being able to pull up a video clip of Friday's hearing in Seattle and an audio clip of today's hearing in San Francisco to tell the story - and in a much more engaging way than a transcript could," said Roth.
"As the judicial branch's role in holding the republic together grows, other federal courts should consider expanding broadcast access as the Ninth Circuit has."
The oral arguments -- being done over the phone -- began at 3 p.m. on the West Coast (6 p.m. on the East). Here is the link. UPDATE: after more than an hour, the arguments have ended, here is a link to the recording.
Washington's attorney general signaled to CNN that he would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary, where video of oral argument is still not allowed.
