Senators Ask SCOTUS To Televise Obamacare Decision

Add the bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee to the list of those who want the Supreme Court to break with tradition and allow cameras into the courtroom for the high court's upcoming Obamacare decision.

Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, and Sen. Charles Grassley, the panel's ranking Republican, sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday laying out their request for a few cameras, "placed to be barely noticeable" in the courtroom, to be allowed to broadcast the decision live.

"Given the fundamental constitutional questions raised and the effects the decision will have, the Court should be aware of the great interest Americans have in the outcome of this case,” the senators wrote, noting that the case is "as important and consequential as any in recent Court history.”

Moreover, televising the decision would "bolster public confidence in our judicial system and in the decisions of the Court," the pair wrote in a nod, perhaps, to the current low approval rating of the judiciary branch. A New York Times/CBS poll earlier this month found the SCOTUS approval rating at a lowly 44 percent.

Then again, such broadcast requests come up fairly often, and they've never swayed the court before. Besides, there’s little to suggest Roberts will break with tradition, the Washington Post notes. Earlier this year, the high court rejected requests from Congress and several media outlets to broadcast the oral argument on health care.