Senators Prohibited From Using Their Phones During Impeachment Trial

Senators are Barred From Using Their Cellphones or Making Speeches During President Trump's Impeachment Hearing

I found this article by New York Times writer Emily Cochrane and it caught my eye with regard to the restriction and use of the First Amendment in a Senate hearing.

At the beginning of the trial proceedings within the Senate for the potential impeachment of President Trump, the sergeant-at-arms announced that there must be complete silence throughout the hearing or  those that speak will be imprisoned. No senator has ever been imprisoned for breaking this rule mind you, but it is a line that needs to be mentioned or else the 100 present senators will most certainly not take the trial seriously.

This situation is very similar to any class in school where the teacher commands that the students refrain from using their cellphones during class, and like those students, even senators will try to bend the rules. Some will glance at their Apple Watches while others will pass notes to each other. Ask any senator and they will admit that being quiet is against their nature and is therefore extremely difficult.

This is, however, a necessary evil as the senators will need to pay close attention to the arguments and evidence present by the prosecutors and defense so that they can be prepared to vote in the final proceedings. This also should reassure the American people as it makes me personally uncomfortable to think that during a trial as historical as an impeachment, senators would play games on their phones or tweet rather than pay attention!

However, is this a restriction of the senators' First Amendment rights? Or simply a necessary rule to allow others to practice their First Amendment? Personally, I would argue the latter since the senators are required to take a vow before trial proceedings to allow those presenting cases to speak freely, and they can only do that by patiently listening to all of the evidence before passing any judgement.

Source: Cochrane, Emily. (2020, January 21). A Challenge for the Trial: 100 Senators Who Love to Talk, Sitting in Silence. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/us/politics/senate-impeachment.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur