The recent interest in Eldred v. Ashcroft has prompted some to comment adversly upon the extent of public access to arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court. See, e.g., the collection of links at this LawMeme story: General Public v. U.S. Supreme Court. Where transcripts are concerned, it is important to recall that the US Supreme Court and other state courts of last resort are not courts of record, so the transcript of oral argument has little to no evidentiary value. However, because of the weight and scope of issues considered by the nation's highest court, transcripts of oral arguments can sometimes have immense cultural/political/social value. (Although the WV Supreme Court allows broad public access to oral arguments -- permits notetaking, has a webcast, and a call-in line -- proceedings are neither archived nor transcribed, because we're not a court of record.)

One more comment while on the subject of oral argument. Though I've only observed a handful of U.S. Supreme Court arguments, I've observed hundreds of arguments before the WV Supreme Court, where I serve as the Clerk of Court. My personal advice based upon these observations: prepare, prepare, prepare, but don't put too much stock in what goes on at oral argument, especially the day after. Generally, the best you can hope for is to clarify an issue or give the Court some good thinking points.

4:29:03 PM