Oral argument in Supreme Court

[Craig Oren]

I had not heard before of the "draft opinion" practice that Eric Freedman
cites from California. I do know that for many years it was (and may still
be) the custom of the California Supreme Court to assign a justice to
write a bench memo on a case prior to oral argument. All bench memos in
criminal matters were done by the staff to the Chief Justice; civil
matters were spread around justices. The bench memo often formed the basis
for the eventual opinion, and it gave a focus for questions at oral
argument.

My hunch is that oral argument, at all levels, is overrated as a way of
persuading anybody, but I have nothing to back that up.

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 Professor Craig N. Oren                    telephone *856-225-6365
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