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Released proceedings foster discussion

This week the Supreme Court began hearing arguments on affirmative action involving the University of Michigan and its policies for undergraduate and law school admission.

There has been massive public interest in the case because the issue of affirmative action hasn’t been taken up by the Supreme Court since the late 1970s. When the Supreme Court makes its decision, expected by late June, there are potential ramifications not only for admissions policies, but also job hiring policies as well.

Because of the attention the case has attracted, the Supreme Court is releasing audio tapes of the proceedings on the same day. This is only the second time in the history of the Supreme Court that tapes have been released with such immediacy. The first time was during the election fiasco of 2000.

Tape recordings are usually made of proceedings, but are not available for months. Now, the tapes are being distributed to networks on the same day so they can be disseminated to the public.

This incredible openness to the public is not the norm. Cameras are never permitted in federal courtrooms, but audio recordings are the closest thing we have to being part of the action. In an age where we can watch war battles unfold on the ground in real time, the proceedings of the Supreme Court are almost more of a mystery.

It’s important that this type of information is available to the public. The decision that will be made about this often-controversial topic affects everyone. When the information is held back from the public for weeks and months, it does nothing to foster discussion and increase knowledge about important issues such as affirmative action.