COURT TV normally covers trials, but yesteday in Manhattan Supreme Court it was the cable channel making a federal case – so to speak.

Court TV hired high-powered legal eagle David Boies to challenge the state of New York, arguing its ban on TV cameras violates the state constitution.

The channel is seeking a court order that would allow TV cameras in state court, although judges could ban them on a case-by-case basis.

New York is one of only nine states that doesn’t allow TV cameras.

Allowing TV coverage of state trials is a sore point here ever since 1997, when the legislature allowed a 10-year cameras-in-the-court experiment to expire.