Oral arguments are taking forever. Supreme Court justices have had enough | CNN Politics

Like all good lawyers, Supreme Court justices can argue over anything — including, it turns out, how best to argue. Quiet grumbling for years over how the court conducts its oral argument sessions has increasingly slipped into public view during a series of appearances by some of the justices. “Way too long,” Chief Justice John Roberts complained recently to a conference of judges and lawyers in Pennsylvania, vowing to “look into it” over the summer. “Too much speechifying,” Justice Samuel Alito piled on in Texas days later, according to SCOTUSblog, adding that he felt there was “too little asking real questions.” The Supreme Court’s oral arguments, which begin each term in October and run through April, have long been understood by legal experts as only marginally important to determining the outcome of any given case. But the sessions nevertheless allow justices to test one another’s theories and, because of that, the arguments can influence the reach of a decision. And for the public, the debates — which have been livestreamed only since the pandemic — offer a glimpse into how nine of the most powerful people in Washington are thinking about various app

May 24, 2026 → May 28, 2026