The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the U.S. Virgin Islands, has announced that it will begin posting videos of its oral arguments online starting later this month. Among federal appeals courts now, only the Ninth Circuit makes argument video available to the public, and the Second Circuit has allowed filming of its cases about a dozen times in the last 20 years.

Fix the Court executive director Gabe Roth said:

I am pleased that the Third Circuit will be making its hearings more accessible to members of the public, who may not always have the time or resources to attend oral arguments in person.

Though it’s not ideal that each federal court of appeals makes its own media rules, it is encouraging that a number of them have made pro-transparency changes to their broadcast policies in the last few months, including the 11th Circuit’s recent decision to post argument audio online.

It is a trend that I hope continues in the near future.