Cameras, both video and still, have always been banned from Supreme Court hearings. But, for the first time, a video of Supreme Court proceedings has been posted to the internet, according to Reuters.
The video comes from Wednesday, when a protester interrupted oral arguments.
The video is very shaky and not of high-quality. It is two minutes in length and shows the disruption, which occurred during oral arguments for a case regarding patents. The video also seems to show oral arguments from October 8 in the case of McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission.
We have embedded the video at the end of this post.
Those who attend Supreme Court hearings are screened by police officers before they are permitted into the courtroom. No electronic devices are allowed in the courtroom.
The person who interrupted the court during oral arguments was identified as Noah Newkirk, from Los Angeles, California. Newkirk can be heard and seen on the video, which looks like it was shot by someone who was in attendance with him.
The end of the video shows the logo for a group named 99Rise. On the group’s website, its goal is to “get big money out of American politics.”
A tiny scuffle ensued, but officers were able to remove Newkirk from the courtroom. He was then charged with violating the law that prohibits “loud threatening or abusive language” inside the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, a spokeswoman from the court said, “Court officials are in the process of reviewing the video and our courtroom screening procedures.”