This is absolutely brilliant. It serves the purpose of mocking the practice in Federal Courts of keeping cameras out of the courtrooms. (I do approve of the practice, but there are opposing views.)
It serves to show viewers a part of what is going on in court.
My best guess is that the peanut gallery in the courtroom is more full than usual because the Puppet Court is stirring interest in the trial.
Think how far you guys could go with this? Do a Puppet Supreme Court! Show Scalia nastily interrupting, show Sotomayor's unending questions. Show Clarence as a puppet with a mouth sown shut like the weave on a football. This is absolutely brilliant!