On October 22, 2015, the Congressional Transparency Caucus held a briefing on making non-confidential CRS reports publicly available in observance of International Open Access Week. Reps. Mike Quigley, co-chair of the CTC, and Rep. Leonard Lance hosted the event.

The Transparency Caucus has a recap here.

Video of the proceedings is available here:

The panelists included:

-The Honorable Chris Shays, Represented the Fourth Congressional District in Connecticut from 1987-2008

-Prue Adler, Associate Executive Director, Association of Research Libraries

-Stan Brand, Senior Counsel, Akin Gump Law Firm

-Kevin Kosar, Senior Fellow and Governance Project Director, R Street Institute

-Daniel Schuman, Policy Director, Demand Progress

On June 3, 2015, Transparency Caucus co-chairs Reps. Mike Quigley and Darrell Issa held a briefing on Supreme Court justices’ disclosure of their financial interests. Currently, SCOTUS is left to regulate itself. Unsurprisingly, that’s a bad model for encouraging ethical behavior. Panelists discussed the importance of justices making full disclosures of their financial interests publicly available online so that the public can act as a watchdog of the high court.

The Transparency Caucus has a recap here.

Panelists included:

-Noah Bookbinder, Executive Director, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

-Sheila Krumholz, Executive Director, Center for Responsive Politics

-Katie Townsend, Litigation Director, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

-Kytja Weir, Project Manager and Reporter, Center for Public Integrity

-Katharine Huffman, Principal, Raben Group

On January 27, 2015, Transparency Caucus co-chair Rep. Mike Quigley and Rep. Gerald Connolly hosted a panel discussion on the importance of providing video and live audio streaming of Supreme Court proceedings — particularly in light of the upcoming same-sex marriage cases.

The Transparency Caucus has a full recap of the panel here.

Panelists included:

-David Fontana, Associate Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School

-Michelle Schwartz, Director of Justice Programs, Alliance for Justice

-Katie Townsend, Litigation Director, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

-Daniel Schuman, Policy Director, Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Editor’s note (March 2022): The Supreme Court finally made live audio streaming of oral arguments public in May 2020, mid COVID-19 pandemic. The effect on public access was widespread and immediate. POGO’s analysis of the session beginning May 2020: “Instead of the 500 to 1,000 people who would have been able to attend the session’s 10 cases in person, more than 130,000 people streamed the arguments live.” In addition to making live audio streaming permanent, the court should look into adding video live-streams to further promote transparency and accessibility.