Earlier this month, Appellate Daily ran a post advocating greater access to oral argument audio at the circuit court level. Seven circuit courts provide free, online audio access, while six do not. I sent a short letter to the chief judges of those six courts (2d, 4th, 6th, 10th, 11th, and D.C. Circuits), enclosing the post and thanking them for their consideration of increased access.
Chief Judge Joel Dubina of the Eleventh Circuit responded with a kind letter, indicating that he, "or one of our court committees, will present [the idea of increased audio access] at our next court administrative meeting, which is in February 2011. The court can then decide if it wants to change our policy." Full letter here. As noted in the earlier post, the Eleventh Circuit has the most restrictive policy of all circuits (only internal court use; no public access).
Readers who would benefit from increased access to Eleventh Circuit audio may also want to consider writing the court, as the Chief Judge has noted a specific time for consideration of the issue.
