Benchmark 2 2025

Cameras in the Courtroom

1 Even though cameras are everywhere these days, they are currently not allowed in many federal courtrooms. This includes the Supreme Court. Justice Elena Kagan has warned that if having cameras in the courtroom "came at the expense of the way the institution functioned, that would be a very bad bargain." Whether cameras should be in courtrooms is a long and ongoing debate.

2 In 1946, at the dawn of the broadcast era, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure banned photographs or broadcast media coverage of criminal trials in federal court. Those who supported the ban argued that lawyers would play to the cameras by showing off. This behavior would disrupt the serious atmosphere of the courtroom. Ban supporters worried that defendants would get nervous and look untrustworthy. They feared that witnesses and jurors would be distracted. All these factors could deny the defendant a fair trial.

3 The Judicial Conference of the United States makes policy for federal courts. In 1972 it expanded the ban to apply to both criminal and civil cases. But, in 1990, the Judicial Conference agreed to a limited test of the idea. It allowed electronic media to record federal civil proceedings in eight courtrooms for three years. Supporters of the program argued that cameras would allow the public to see that justice was being served. In the end, the Judicial Conference decided that some participants may find cameras intimidating. It stood by the ban.

4 However, a second pilot study ran from 2011 to 2015. As a result, five federal courts now allow video cameras in limited instances in civil cases. Supporters of cameras in federal courtrooms keep pushing to expand that number. Since 2005, members of Congress have introduced at least nine "Sunshine in the Courtroom" bills. The latest
bipartisan measure was introduced in 2021. It would allow judges in all federal courts the discretion to permit electronic media coverage while safeguarding due process and privacy.

5 It is unclear where the majority of federal judges stand on cameras in
the courtroom. The Congressional Research Service notes in a 2019
report that as a group, federal judges have not been asked their opinion
on the matter. But over the years, the focus on journalists with cameras
has shifted. Advocates have suggested that the courts themselves take
control of the electronic media and post video online. Many state courts,
most of which allow cameras in the courtroom in some form, take this
approach. Lower federal courts do as well. In addition, transcripts and
audio often may be purchased through PACER. This is the online records
system for federal courts. These developments have greatly expanded
public access to federal court proceedings.

from Mr. Linden's Library
by Walter Dean Myers

1 It looked the same as the book she had handled before, but the ending of the story had changed.

2 Taking a deep breath, she calmed down. There had to be a logical explanation. It was as if she had remembered a previous day but had mixed that day with another.

3 "I'm glad to discover another reader," Mr. Linden said downstairs in the kitchen. He cradled a cup of tea in his hands. "We are a dying breed, I'm afraid."

4 That night Carol's sleep was disturbed by troubled dreams. Carol dreamt of sitting in Mr. Linden's library, questioning him about his life and all the books in his library. Then she awoke and lay in the darkness of her room, thinking of the book on the window seat and how she must have allowed her imagination or some random thought to change the way she remembered the page.

5 All things made sense. There were no mysteries in the real world. She thought of mentioning the book to her mother but decided against it. It was her mystery, and she rather enjoyed the curiousness of it all.

6 The next time they were supposed to visit Mr. Linden, Carol's mother wasn't feeling well. She had one of the headaches that plagued her when the weather grew heavier, just before the late fall and temperatures plummeted the town into its annual winter doldrums. Now that her mother knew more about Mr. Linden, she was fine to let Carol
go by herself.

7 As she made her first trip alone to Mr. Linden's house, turning aside from the wind that rippled the bay, Carol thought about asking him directly about the book. Perhaps she would start by talking about the last book she had borrowed. But not at first, of course. First she had to get her hands on his book and check it out.

8 She hoped he would allow her to go into the library alone, and he did. She held her breath and walked more softly, almost sneaking up on the books that awaited her.

9 She glanced at the window seat. The book was still there, angled so that the sun cast a shadow diagonally across the title. She turned away from it, allowing her glance to capture it now and again as she read the titles of the shelved books.

10 She found a book with small drawings of ships and islands, The Traveler's Guide to Madeira and the West Indies, and leafed casually through it, all the time listening for sounds from below. When she heard the clinking of the metal teakettle against the stove, she moved quickly to Mr. Linden's book.

11 Esteban told himself that he had been swimming long enough. He had already gone much farther than anyone he knew, even farther than men with strong legs. No one swam all the way to the island. Now he was nearer than he had ever been, but it no longer seemed important to him. It was as if he were swimming not for himself but for the dolphin
that went before him most of the time but sometimes behind him, nudging him forward.

12 He began breathing hard, showing the dolphin how tired he was, how afraid he was to keep going when he wasn't at all sure of himself. He was not that strong and had already done more than he had ever done in his life. He stopped and treaded water for a while, with the dolphin only a few feet away. Esteban felt that he and the dolphin were on a mission together, that they were proving something. But what were they proving, and where would it lead?

13 Again Carol checked the number on the page, even looking at the numbers of the pages before and after the one she was reading. She was right; the story had changed. It was changing from day to day! The boy in the story was swimming out farther each time, and the dolphin swam with him, as if it knew something special about the boy's mission. But how could the story be different each time she read it?

14 She grabbed the book she would borrow, holding it with both hands, and carried it down to Mr. Linden.

15 "Ah, George Miller's travel adventure from the age of sail." Mr. Linden examined the book over the rimless glasses he wore. "Excellent choice."

16 "What are you reading?" Carol asked. "Something about dolphins, I think."

17 The old black man looked quickly away. For a long moment the room was engulfed in silence. In the distance, barely audible, the gentle lapping of the low tide on the graveled shore came rhythmically.

18 "It's not a very good book." His voice was lower than it had been. "You wouldn't be interested."