Not Everyone Is Happy With the Supreme Court’s Live Broadcasts
It would be nice to have a serious discussion of the Supreme Court’s new telephone-argument format. Alas, that discussion has already been largely derailed by what dramatists call “noises off.”
There’s embarrassment enough to go around in that episode; my shamefaced confession is that I didn’t hear it. So I will move on to matters of substance.
Is the new format better?
[Garrett Epps: A citizen’s guide to SCOTUS live]
The Court suspended oral arguments for the rest of March on March 16 and extended the postponement through April on April 3. But as the lockdown stretched on, pressure to complete the term’s business grew, and on April 13 the Court announced that it would hold arguments by teleconference during May. It has also begun releasing opinions without ceremony, simply by posting them on the Court website at times announced in advance.
The adoption of the teleconference
