The Iowa Supreme Court is taking another step in its public relations outreach that started after three justices were voted off the bench in the 2010 retention election. The high court plans to start offering live streaming today on-line of the oral arguments portion of the cases it hears.
Court spokesman, Steve Davis, says the first sessions are at nine a.m. and one p.m. Davis says they are hoping to help people understand what the Supreme Court does and give some insight into some of the legal issues of the day and see how the appellant process works.
Davis says the oral arguments are one part of the process used by justices to make a decision. He says it’s an opportunity for attorneys to argue a case as the appeals process does not involve a jury or evidence or testimony from witnesses. But attorneys argue both sides of the case and the justices will ask them questions about the case. Davis says people on-line will see how the arguments unfold.
Davis says there’ll be cameras on the attorneys and cameras on the justices if they ask questions. Davis says they will also make the arguments available later for those who can’t watch them live.
He says they used to offer the oral arguments in an archive prior to 2009, but budget cuts forced them to stop offering the archive of the arguments. Davis says there is a schedule and case description of the oral arguments on-line at the judicial system website, along with the archives of the arguments. That site is: www.iowacourts.gov.