Sotomayor Speaks 'Early and Often' in Oral Arguments
As the U.S. Supreme Court opened its term Monday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor lived up to her reputation as a frequent questioner in oral arguments, outpacing her fellow New Yorker, Justice Antonin Scalia, in the first hour of questioning.
The Los Angeles Times and the National Law Journal had the count. Sotomayor asked 36 questions in the first hour, while Scalia asked 30. According to the Associated Press, Sotomayor “jumped into the questioning early and often,” although she occasionally forgot to turn on her microphone before speaking.
Sotomayor’s questions sounded as if they were formulated by a prosecutor or trial lawyer, according to the NLJ story. She made declarative statements about some aspect of the case, and then asked, “Correct?”
The questioning highlights speculation that Sotomayor will develop a rivalry with Scalia, the court’s most outspoken conservative, the Los Angeles Times story says.
“Outside the courtroom, she has already managed to upstage Scalia,” the Times story says. “A lifelong Yankees fan, she was invited to throw out the first ball in a recent game at Yankee Stadium. Scalia, another lifelong Yankees fan, is awaiting his invitation.”
In a panel discussion last weekend, retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor noted the justices’ penchant for asking questions, USA Today reports. “A lot of them are former law professors,” she said, “and all they do is ask questions. So you have to ask in a hurry or you’re never going to get a question in.”
O’Connor said her strategy was to ask the first question of each session “because I never would get back in if I didn’t.”
