So the USSC hears 70 cases a YEAR? (according to CBS eve news)

[karlrschneider]

that's one every 5 days. They sure have it tough. :eyes: :puke:

[Posteritatis]

1. To be fair

By the time a case gets up there - which means surviving every step of the appeals process beforehand, which is non-trivial - it's not that likely to be an open-and-shut affair most of the time. By the time something hits SCOTUS, you've got to keep track not only of the arguments that are going to be presented before it (the people on either side of the case obviously don't stop talking before that!), but you'll likely have a few rainforestacres' worth of previous decisions, court transcripts, information on evidence or other things necessary for the case, etc. etc. etc. that have to be kept in mind, read, examined, etc.

Keep in mind that there isn't a shortage of court cases which can take several days, or even weeks, at the lower levels. There's a lot of stuff involved in those things, and I would assume it starts to pile up as it goes through appeals.

To be honest, seventy cases a year doesn't sound that unreasonable. I'd rather a supreme court spend some time on its cases, listening to the arguments, looking at the evidence, and discussing with one another, than the alternative of hurling precedent grenades with wild abandon as quickly as possible. If the court's say is final - and, for the most part, it is - I don't have a problem with the court's say also being as deliberate as possible.

[China_cat]

2. How long is the year for the SC?

Isn't it something like a school year? 9 months?

[karlrschneider]

3. It probably is, but I have noticed that a case rarely lasts more than a few hours

-in court-...I realize there has to be discussion and authoring of opinions, it just doesn't seem like they're really all that overworked.

[MonkeyFunk]

5. yes

generally oral arguments take one hour in any case. In some cases, they allow two hours for argument.

But the REAL work is all done on paper.

By all accounts, the Supreme Court works very hard.

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. Technically the Term is from the 1st Monday in October till the day preceding that day, one year

later;
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/docket.html

But according to this schedule, it appears as if they keep the calender clear for the months of July through late September;
http://washingtonpost.findlaw.com/supreme_court/calendar/index.html

[qdemn7]

6. Sorry karl...

I usually agree with you, but on this I think you're wrong. I would much rather have the Court take their time and deliberate the cases that reach them since their decisions have such a profound impact on every person in the US. The real issue is people are unwilling to let the Legislative process work and have issues settled at THAT level where they should be. Instead they want to run to the courts over every issue and subvert the Legislative process.

[karlrschneider]

7. Actually, I wasn't exactly complaining...it just seemed to me that they could manage

to do more. CBS said that up until a year or 2 ago they routinely heard twice that many and I wondered how and why it was cut in half. As to your other point, I absolutely agree...far too many people make a mad dash to the courts when they feel wronged and make virtually no effort to resolve their grievances outside the judicial system. But then we have way too many lawyers who need work and they encourage litigation even when it's superfluous...and the many 'consumers' who perceive it as a handy way to get some satisfaction (or are led to believe it)

sigh