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United States · Bill · S

S. 405 (113th)

Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2013

referredUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

28 February 2013

Last action

28 February 2013 · Introduced

Status

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1014-1015)

Sponsors

Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA], Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY], Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT], Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX], Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL], Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN], Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT], Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]

Subjects

Discovery layer

Source updated

10 August 2026

Summary

Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2013 - Authorizes the presiding judge of a U.S. appellate court or U.S. district court to permit the photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising to the public of court proceedings over which that judge presides, except when such action would constitute a violation of the due process rights of any party. Directs: (1) a district court, upon the request of any witness in a trial proceeding other than a party, to order the face and voice of the witness to be disguised or otherwise obscured to render the witness unrecognizable to the broadcast audience of the trial proceeding; and (2) the presiding judge in a trial proceeding to inform each witness who is not a party of the right to make such request. Allows a presiding judge to obscure the face and voice of an individual if good cause is shown that photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising such features would threaten the individual's safety, the court's security, the integrity of future or ongoing law enforcement operations, or the interest of justice. Prohibits a presiding judge from permitting the photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising of any juror in a trial proceeding, or of the jury selection process. Terminates a district court's authority under this Act three years after enactment of this Act. Requires the Judicial Conference of the United States to promulgate mandatory guidelines which a presiding judge must follow for obscuring certain vulnerable witnesses. Prohibits any audio pickup or broadcast of conferences which occur in a court proceeding between attorneys and their clients, co-counsel of a client, adverse counsel, or counsel and the presiding judge, if the conferences are not part of the official record of the proceedings.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

  1. 28 February 2013

    Introduced

    Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1014-1015)

    Source: IntroReferral

  2. 28 February 2013

    Introduced

    Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1014)

    Source: IntroReferral

  3. 28 February 2013

    Introduced

    Introduced in Senate

    Source: IntroReferral

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

Documents

3 official files

Introduced in Senate (text)

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  • Introduced in Senate (text)

    Introduced in Senate · EN · 28 February 2013

    ViewDownloadOpen at official source

  • Introduced in Senate (PDF)

    Introduced in Senate · EN · 28 February 2013

    ViewDownloadOpen at official source

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  • Introduced in Senate

    summary · EN · 28 February 2013

    Open at official source

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Sponsors

Related records

Sources

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