We have a new record. During oral arguments in Gill v. Whitford, Justice Breyer entertained Wisconsin Solicitor General with a fifty-seven line “Breyer Page.” By my count, the previous record was fifty-one lines in United States v. Texas. (There may be a discrepancy in measuring lines, as the Court switched reporting companies from Alderson to Heritage).

Perhaps conscious of his loquaciousness, Justice Breyer promised that his question would last “exactly 30 seconds.” I estimate that the question lasted about three minutes.

 

And always, the Breyer pages end with (Laughter.).

H/T Adam Feldman

Update: As I suspected, the formatting for Heritage is different from Alderson, so Justice Breyer’s question is a record for total number of lines, but not in total length. According to the audio, Justice Breyer’s question for Misha Tseylin lasted from 7:38 – 10:27 (2:49). The Breyer page for Paul Clement in Zubik last 2:45. However the Breyer page for Scott Keller in U.S. v. Texas lasted 3:10–and this is still the record.