9th Circuit Court Chief Judge Alex Kozinski: policy on trial broadcasting "rests exclusively with the Judicial Conference of each circuit"

01/12/10 SCOTUS blog:

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a YouTube webcast of the Perry trial. The U.S. Judicial Conference - which sets policy for the federal courts - sent Chief Judge Alex Kozinki a letter asking him to consider the Conference's policy against civil or criminal court recordings, notwithstanding the 9th Circuit's new pilot program for camera recordings of civil, non-jury trials, and Kozinski's order authorizing a Perry trial broadcast. Lyle Deniston of SCOTUS blog reports on Kozinski's response in this letter. He also discusses today's 01/12/10 supplemental brief by Prop. 8 proponents in Hollingsworth, et al., v. Perry, No. 09A648 (U.S.).

01/11/10 Cal Legal Pad, by legal news reporter Dan Levine:

[W]e picked up a little letter war between Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski and the U.S. Judicial Conference in Washington, D.C. The folks back East asked Kozinski to “consider” conference policy against cameras in the court. Kozinski, who has a turbulent history with Conference oversight (Internet firewalls, anyone?), fired back a missive defending the Ninth Circuit’s power to broadcast. Kozinski also said the circuit has been moving cautiously.

For more on the "YouTube" controversy, see this post by law professor John Culhane, this LA Times article, and this CNN.com article. (Professor Culhane expects to discuss the expected Supreme Court decision tomorrow, and will discuss the Perry trial tonight on 1150AM (WDEL).) Above the Law links to more legal coverage of the issue here. At the National Review, Ed Whelan continues his blog series, "Judge Walker’s Gambit to Bamboozle the Supreme Court." [01/13/10 update: AP reporter Paul Elias reports on the subject here: "Lawyers said there appears to be an informal agreement among the justices to keep the court's own ban in place until there is unanimous consent to let cameras inside."]