Nevada Judiciary

Court Will Provide Synopses of Oral Arguments

The Nevada Supreme Court will begin webcasting all oral arguments over its website in the latest effort to provide more public access to court processes, Chief Justice James W. Hardesty announced.

The Supreme Court recently installed updated camera and sound systems in both its Carson City and Las Vegas courtrooms to facilitate the live streaming of the arguments. The new system involves multiple high resolution cameras and individual microphones for each justice and the speaker at the podium.

"Webcasting of oral arguments will bring the Supreme Court closer to the people of Nevada," said Chief Justice Hardesty. "Oral arguments are held in only the most important and legally complex cases."

"Our decisions in those cases set legal precedent that can affect many people," Chief Justice Hardesty continued. "Because of that, it is important that the public be able to observe our process."

"The Nevada Supreme Court has worked very hard to be transparent in its activities and responsive to the public," Chief Justice Hardesty said. "We understand that few Nevadans have the opportunity to attend Supreme Court arguments in person. Live webcasts will allow everyone with Internet access, no matter where they are, to attend our court hearings."

To enhance an understanding of the oral arguments, Chief Justice Hardesty said the Supreme Court will begin posting synopses of the cases and legal issues to be argued.

The Supreme Court's website (www.nvsupremecourt.us) will be hosting the live video feeds, which tentatively are scheduled for March 2-3 in Carson City.

This will not be the first time Supreme Court arguments have been webcast.

In June 2008, the Supreme Court found a way to webcast oral arguments in several high profile cases involving election ballot challenges, plus a case involving disciplinary proceedings against then-District Judge Elizabeth Halverson.

The Supreme Court utilized a simple video conference system with a single camera and only three microphones to provide the video feed.

Because the Supreme Court did not have webcasting capabilities at the time, the Legislative Council Bureau, which has been webcasting legislative hearings for years, provided the technology to stream the court arguments over the Internet.

A few subsequent arguments before the full 7-member court were webcast in the same manner.

"We are thankful to have the capability to provide a quality webcast of arguments live over the Internet," said Chief Justice Hardesty. "The justices see this as not only a way to inform the public, but a way to educate the public and our children about Nevada's judiciary, and the Supreme Court process in particular."

Past webcasts only involved cases before the full court. In the future, webcasts will also include arguments before the three-justice panels. Those two panels, which rotate membership annually, decide most cases. The Chief Justice is not a member of either panel, but sits when another justice has a conflict.

While the arguments will be webcast live, the Supreme Court has been posting audio files of oral arguments on the website since September 2007. Those audio files – or podcasts – generally remain on the website for about a month.

Bill Gang
Public Information Officer
Nevada Supreme Court
702-486-3232 office
702-279-6375 mobile