By email 1156 15th St. NW, Suite 1020 Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 795-9300 www.rcfp.org September 16, 2020 Bruce D. Brown Executive Director [email protected] The Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr. (202) 795-9301 Chief Justice of the United States STEERING COMMITTEE Supreme Court of the United States STEPHEN J. ADLER Reuters 1 First Street NE J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE The Associated Press Washington, D.C. 20543 WOLF BLITZER CNN DAVID BOARDMAN Re: Request for Continued Access to Live Audio Streaming of Oral Temple University THEODORE J. BOUTROUS, JR. Arguments and Opinion Releases Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP MASSIMO CALABRESI Time Magazine Dear Chief Justice Roberts: MANNY GARCIA Pro Publica EMILIO GARCIA-RUIZ The Washington Post The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the 50 JOSH GERSTEIN POLITICO undersigned media organizations write to respectfully request that the Court ALEX GIBNEY continue to provide live audio access for the press and public to arguments Jigsaw Productions SUSAN GOLDBERG and opinion announcements. National Geographic JAMES GRIMALDI The Wall Street Journal We were pleased to see the Court’s historic move to provide real-time LAURA HANDMAN Davis Wright Tremaine telephonic access to all cases heard in May 2020 while the Supreme Court DIEGO IBARGÜEN Hearst Building was closed to the public due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. KAREN KAISER The Associated Press The public’s manifest interest in the Court’s work has been unmistakable. DAVID LAUTER Los Angeles Times MARGARET LOW For example, upwards of 50,000 people listened in real time to the WBUR JANE MAYER Court’s arguments on May 12, and SCOTUSblog reported that within a few The New Yorker COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON hours of the arguments, approximately 500,000 people had streamed the The McClatchy Company arguments that day (in the cases Trump v. Mazars USA LLP, No. 19-715, and MAGGIE MULVIHILL Boston University Trump v. Vance, No. 19-635). Amy Howe, Courtroom access: Where do we JAMES NEFF The Philadelphia Inquirer go from here?, SCOTUSblog (May 13, 2020, 12:37 PM), https://perma.cc/ NORMAN PEARLSTINE The Los Angeles Times 82NM-U6VU. THOMAS C. RUBIN Stanford Law School CHARLIE SAVAGE Further, by the Reporters Committee’s count, to date almost two The New York Times JENNIFER SONDAG million people have listened to at least one of these recorded May arguments Bloomberg News online. Melissa Wasser, Summary of Supreme Court Oral Argument NABIHA SYED The Markup Numbers (May 2020), Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press (last visited ADAM SYMSON The E.W. Scripps Company Sept. 16, 2020), http://bit.ly/SCOTUSLiveAudio. PIERRE THOMAS ABC News SAUNDRA TORRY During the live telephonic oral arguments in May, journalists were Freelance VICKIE WALTON-JAMES able to report to their audiences about Court sessions while they were NPR JUDY WOODRUFF ongoing, giving many Americans their first contemporaneous glimpse into PBS/The NewsHour how the Court operates. This access promotes an even more informed HONORARY LEADERSHIP COUNCIL CHIP BOK citizenry, particularly when thousands or tens of thousands of people can Creators Syndicate TONY MAURO listen to a live argument, compared to the 50 to 100 members of the public American Lawyer Media, ret. DAHLIA LITHWICK who are able to attend an argument in person. Slate ANDREA MITCHELL NBC News CAROL ROSENBERG The New York Times PAUL STEIGER ProPublica

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Telephonic access during COVID-19 has convincingly demonstrated the public’s appetite to observe the operations of the Court and has shown that the Court can balance increased access with the integrity of its proceedings. Accordingly, continued live audio access to oral arguments and opinion announcements will promote transparency, accountability, and public confidence in our judicial system. We urge the Court to continue to provide this live audio access while the Supreme Court Building is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sincerely,

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

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2 cc: Associate Justice Clarence Thomas Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor Associate Justice Elena Kagan Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh

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