Lawrence S. Wrightsman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195368628
- eISBN:
- 9780199867554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368628.003.0004
- Subject:
- Psychology, Forensic Psychology
Justices have complete power over the content of the oral argument. They can—and do—interrupt advocates only a few words into advocates’ opening statements. They can—and do—ask questions ranging from ...
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Justices have complete power over the content of the oral argument. They can—and do—interrupt advocates only a few words into advocates’ opening statements. They can—and do—ask questions ranging from the trivial (and even irrelevant) to the wildly hypothetical. Their questions and comments may be hostile, sympathetic, or neither. This chapter presents a classification, with examples from recent oral arguments, of eight motivations underlying the questions asked by justices.Less
Justices have complete power over the content of the oral argument. They can—and do—interrupt advocates only a few words into advocates’ opening statements. They can—and do—ask questions ranging from the trivial (and even irrelevant) to the wildly hypothetical. Their questions and comments may be hostile, sympathetic, or neither. This chapter presents a classification, with examples from recent oral arguments, of eight motivations underlying the questions asked by justices.
