The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit announced Wednesday it will begin live streaming audio of oral arguments.
Chief Judge Merrick Garland said live audio will be streamed at the beginning of its next term, which starts in September.
“This is an important additional step in bringing transparency to our proceedings,” Garland said.
Arguments during which “classified or sealed matters” are discussed will not be streamed.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals joins a handful of federal appeals courts that have live streamed audio of oral arguments.
The 9th Circuit currently streams live audio and video of oral arguments, and the 4th Circuit Court allowed C-SPAN last year to live stream audio of oral arguments in the case challenging President Trump’s travel ban.
The D.C. Court of Appeals has been streaming live audio of arguments upon request since October 2017.
Audio recordings are also posted online the day the argument takes place.
Unlike some of the federal appeals courts‚ including its neighbor in the nation’s capital, the U.S. Supreme Court does not live stream oral arguments or allow cameras inside the courtroom.
Audio recordings are instead released to the public at the end of each argument week, but in rare instances, the high court has made same-day audio available.
The most recent occurrence was in April, when the Supreme Court released the audio recording from arguments in a case challenging the president’s travel ban hours after they concluded.
