(CBS) – Another effort is under way to require broadcast audio and video coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Attempts to allow microphones and cameras in court aren’t new, and many states already allow them inside their courtrooms. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is co-sponsoring a measure to require broadcast of Supreme Court proceedings, because he says it’s the right thing to do.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Alex Degman reports

“I think this is necessary and positive in terms of our democracy,” he says. “When we demystify the decisions of government, when the American people can see them being made and hear the arguments, we’re better for it.”

Durbin says he’d also favor required audio and video coverage for U.S. district and appellate courts.

The Supreme Court last year began releasing audio recordings of the proceedings and, in 1947, declared that what transpires in the chamber is public property.