Are Supreme Court justices supposed to direct their questions to the

[Baitball Blogger]

person before the court and only discuss their opinions with other judges at time of vote? Or do they cross talk and question each other's legal reasoning during the entire deliberation?

[unblock]

1. the lawyers' time before the court is, well, timed. so it woudn't be cool to spend it cross-talking

moreover, pretty much the entire point of oral arguments is for the justices to ask and get answers to questions.

the lawyers have laid out their arguments in their briefs, so no need to re-argue their positions; and no need for the justices to debate then, as they can do that plenty in conference later.

that said, i'd be surprised if there wasn't some cross-talk at some point. in practice, cross-talk can certainly occur with a pointedly-worded question ostensibly directed at the lawyer....

[Baitball Blogger]

3. I'm inquiring because of an article from DailyKos.

I was looking for background details.

Gorsuch already trying to blow up the Supreme Court

Hearing arguments in his first case Monday—a procedural dispute involving the rights of federal employees who lose their jobs—Gorsuch waited only 10 minutes before unleashing a barrage of questions and suggesting both sides in the case were misreading a key federal law. […]

By the end of the hour, Gorsuch was as active a questioner as any of his colleagues—and prompted one of them to suggest he was proposing revolutionary changes, albeit in an obscure area of federal law. […]

Gorsuch's questions suggested he disagreed with previous Supreme Court decisions that had let federal district courts consider lawsuits that claim violations of federal discrimination laws as well as civil service laws.

His questions drew pushback from Justice Elena Kagan, who said that position would mark a "revolution," though in a technical area of law.

[unblock]

5. yeah, he's gonna be a piece of work all right....

[PoliticAverse]

2. Have you ever listened to the audio of the questioning. They're online at the website...

at: https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_audio.aspx

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Yes, I have. But the questions are generally directed to the counselor arguing before the court.

Daily Kos had some info on Gorsuch's first court appearance that had me wondering. It sounded like Gorsuch wasted no time questioning past case law and reasoning.

[Hamlette]

6. it is unusual but not unheard of

mind you I've never argued at the US Supreme Court but I've handled hundreds of cases at the appellate courts in my state where its judges or justices asking questions. Sometimes they snipe a bit at each other. And answer the questions one judge asked of the attorney and argue about cases. As I said, unusual but it has happened. And sometimes the decisions reflect the animosity some of them feel to each other.

Having spoken to several of them outside of the court room they all say 95% plus of the decisions are made before oral argument.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. Thank you.

Great info.