California’s requirement of background checks for buyers of firearms ammunition was revived Monday, at least for now, when a federal appeals court blocked an earlier ruling that the 2019 law was unconstitutional. 

This article examines how oral argument time has evolved at the Supreme Court over nearly seven decades, using data from Oyez (procured with the help of Jack Truscott) covering the period from the 1955-56 term through the current one. What emerges is the story of a precipitous decline in total argument time since the 1960s, followed by a recent uptick in average argument length per case as the court’s docket has shrunk.

Legal scholars have long debated the role and influence of academic writing on judicial decisionmaking. The optimistic view holds that scholarship provides courts with rigorous analysis, empirical data, historical context, and normative frameworks that improve legal reasoning.

(Subscription required) In his final column as a sitting justice, Arthur Gilbert reflects on five decades of judicial service, the colleagues and staff who supported him, the whimsical notion of multiverses and cosmic chance, and the fitting title -- "The Beginning" -- signaling that his column will continue even after "RET" follows his name.