How Covid Transformed Supreme Court Arguments

“On about 40 mornings each year, the justices take their seats behind the Supreme Court’s majestic mahogany bench to hear oral arguments,” the New York Times reports.

“Part interrogation of the lawyers before them and part conversation among the justices, those sessions are not as important as the written briefs submitted by the parties. But the arguments that follow those submissions are essentially the only way the public can see the court at work.”

“The ritual had hardly changed in 50 years until the spring of 2020, when the pandemic ousted the justices from the courtroom for 18 months.”

“Scrambling for a solution, they decided to hold arguments by telephone, revised how they posed questions and let the public listen in. Those improvised stopgap measures turned out to be the start of a fundamental transformation of the court’s signature ceremony.”