Wong: Then I have to put the red light on. That is the, uh, nightmare for many, many attorneys who argue here. Same thing: They present, justices ask questions, but each lawyer only gets 30 minutes. Longoria: When the first lawyer finishes, the other lawyer gets a turn. Wong: So when it gets down to about five minutes, I press a switch in which a white light appears on the lectern. Longoria: That first lawyer presents to the nine justices. Wong: Each side generally gets a half hour. Longoria: Oral argument at the Supreme Court is a bit like a dance. ( A metronome plays over the tango, breaking it up into segments.)
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Longoria: Apparently he taught some Supreme Court staff how to ballroom dance, which is fitting, because, as the marshal of the Supreme Court, part of his job is to keep time. Interviewer: I understand, too, you’ve even given a-a lesson or two at the Court? Wong: Where I, uh, watch other people dance-and steal some of their steps. ( Ballroom music plays, almost tango-like.) He earned a Bronze Star Medal in World War II. He’s a New Yorker, son of Chinese immigrants. Longoria: Alfred Wong, marshal of the Supreme Court from 1976 to 1994. Interviewer: I understand that in your retirement, you might be doing some dancing.Īlfred Wong: I dance now ! At least once a week for about three hours. And it’s something I’ve always wondered, too, listening to the song we just heard-the “Oyez, oyez!”: Who is that man who’s singing so, like, soulfully and rhythmically? And we-we located him. So-so-so, we’ve been getting this question, um, from listeners. I’m Jad Abumrad, here with Julia Longoria. “Oyez” can be heard over and over from many voices before the music fades down and out.)Ībumrad: This More Perfect. A guitar line and a galloping beat cradle recorded audio from judges and justices. As the synthesizers quiet, the theme music for More Perfect plays. ( The ripples overtake the rhythm and sing out for a moment. I reported it a few years ago for a show called More Perfect-hosted by Jad Abumrad from Radiolab-that’s all about the Supreme Court. So to mark the passing of these new rules, this week, we’re re-releasing a story about how things used to be and the study that made these changes possible. Longoria: Now there’s a new order to it all: They’ll ask in order of seniority.
( For a brief moment, the loop gives way to synthesizers rippling in the wake of one heavy bass note.) But a few years ago, a study revealed that women on the Court were more prone to being interrupted. For decades and decades before this, it used to be that justices would just pipe up and ask questions, kind of at random. There’s a new set of rules for how justices can ask lawyers questions in the courtroom. Longoria: We’re a show about our unfinished country, telling stories about people navigating our country’s ideals-and our contradictions.Īnd last week, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor revealed that big changes have quietly been taking place in the highest court of our country. ( Plucked up, three ascending notes resonate from an electric guitar over the methodical beat of a tambourine.) Use the hashtag #TheExperimentPodcast, or write to us at transcript of this episode is presented below: This story originally aired on More Perfect, a Radiolab spin-off about the Supreme Court.īe part of The Experiment.
This week, we’re re-airing a More Perfect episode about the Northwestern University research that inspired the Court’s changes. This came after a study revealed that women are disproportionately interrupted by men in the highest court in America. Last week, Justice Sonia Sotomayor announced that the Supreme Court had broken with tradition and changed its rules for oral argument.
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