Allowing cameras in courtrooms is a controversial issue that courts have debated about over the years. In 2006 US Supreme Court [official website] Justices Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy spoke [JURIST report] at a US House Appropriations Committee Meeting against a proposed bill that would have permitted public broadcasting of Supreme Court oral arguments. The justices believed having cameras in the courtroom would harm the nature of the court's proceedings and did not believe that Congress should interfere with the way another branch of government operates. US Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer also debated [JURIST report] the topic the previous year during an American Bar Association [official website] event. Only Kennedy seemed receptive of the idea, arguing that it may be helpful to future litigants who go in front of the court. The other justices worried, however, that cameras would degrade the institution and it proceedings.