When the Supreme Court steps into their court room to hear a case, the justices have already read and studied the issue. I imagine that in most cases, they have already made up their minds on which way they are going to rule.
The oral arguments are not the beginning of the case before the Supremes, they are the wrap-up and a last opportunity for one side or the other to make their case . . . in 30 minutes.
Imagine if you only had 30 minutes to make your case and 15 of it was taken up by questions from the judges.
One judge you won't get a question from is Clarence Thomas. The last time he asked a question was February 22, 2006. That's two years and 142 cases ago.
Key Graphs:
Indeed, Thomas' comment was provoked by this question: Why do your colleagues ask so many questions?Good stuff.
His response: "I did not plant that question. That's a fine question. When you figure out the answer, you let me know," he said.
He also has said he will ask a pertinent question if his colleagues don't but sees no need to engage in the back-and-forth just to hear his own voice.
"If I think a question will help me decide a case, then I'll ask that question," he told C-SPAN's Brian Lamb in October. "Otherwise, it's not worth asking because it detracts from my job."
"I still believe that, if somebody else is talking, somebody should be listening."
"we are there to decide cases, not to engage in seminar discussions."
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