We started as a nation committed to open courts – where members of the Press could, armed with quill pens, write interesting stories for newspapers.  No one worried about cameras in the courtroom.

Most state courts, like Iowa, resolved to allow cameras in the courtroom decades ago.  But now a new issue has arisen:  we increasingly don’t have newspapers as a principle source of information; we have blogs and tweets.

In the spirit of openness, the Iowa Supreme Court proposed new rules that would allow “news media” to live-tweet and blog oral arguments and other judicial proceedings.