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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.

During oral arguments in McDonnell v. U.S., Justice Breyer nearly broke his own record with a 51-line Breyer page. Well technically, it was 40 consecutive lines. Then Michael Dreeben interjected “So–” Breyer continued with another 11 lines. I’m not sure how to count it. But in any event, it is still less than his 52-line soliloquy in U.S. v. Texas.

Update: On lines 12-13 of p. 33, I think there may be a typo. Justice Breyer likely meant “knotty” problem, rather than “naughty” problem. Although SGB”s hypos can sometimes be rather anughty. H/T Andrew Joseph on FB.

 

I was in the Court for his 49 lines in Zubik v. Burwell. There were 44 lines in Hosannah-Tabor. In Bond, he spoke for 38 lines uninterrupted. 36 Lines in FERC v. Electric Power Supply Association. He went 32 lines in Medtronic v. Boston Scientific Corp. He had 35 lines in EPA v. EME Homer. In Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Hyatt, Justice Breyer spoke had 34 lines. Alas, only 27 lines in Zivotofsky.

I think we have a new record. While doing some research for Unraveled, I went back to review oral arguments in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC (2011). You may recall that Deputy SG Kruger had told the Court that neither the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause or Establishment Clause gave a church the right to “institutional autonomy with respect to its employees.” Justice Kagan said that she found this response “amazing” that the government thought “neither the Free Exercise Clause nor the Establishment Clause has anything to say about a church’s relationship with its own employees.” After this remark, Kruger floundered for a bit discussing the right of free association, but she was gaining no traction. That was until Justice Breyer intervened with a 44-line soliloquy about his internal turmoil with this case. It stretched from 43:37 to 45:44 in the audio. He spoke uninterrupted for over two of the government’s fifteen minutes of divided argument time. He finished his remarks with “What about that?”

I think this is a new record for Breyer pages. In Bond, he spoke for 38 lines uninterrupted. 36 Lines in FERC v. Electric Power Supply Association. He went 32 lines in Medtronic v. Boston Scientific Corp. He had 35 lines in EPA v. EME Homer. In Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Hyatt, Justice Breyer spoke had 34 lines. Alas, only 27 lines in Zivotofsky.

Here is the Breyer-page that spans three pages in the transcript:

 

In Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Hyatt, Justice Breyer spoke uninterrupted for 34 lines about who-knows-whats, stretching from page 41-43. He actually asked for “two minutes on what’s bothering me.”

This is fairly mild by Breyer’s usual standards. In Bond, he spoke for 38 lines uninterrupted. 36 Lines in FERC v. Electric Power Supply Association. He went 32 lines in Medtronic v. Boston Scientific Corp. He had 35 lines in EPA v. EME Homer. Alas, only 27 lines in Zivotofsky.

Fittingly, Chief Justice Roberts earned his title on SGB.

H/T Sean Marotta

One of my hobbies is reading through Supreme Court oral argument transcripts, and chronicling Justice Breyer’s verbose statements (not really questions). Occasionally, Justice Breyer will speak, uninterrupted, for an entire page in the transcript. I call this the “Breyer page.” In Bond, he spoke for 38 lines uninterrupted. He went 32 lines in Medtronic v. Boston Scientific Corp. He had 35 lines in EPA v. EME Homer. Alas, only 27 lines in Zivotofsky.

Today in arguments in FERC v. Electric Power Supply Assn. (a case made for SGB), we had a 36-line soliloquy that stretched over three pages. My favorite sentence was “Every reduction in demand for a unit of retail electricity is ipso facto a demand for a reduction of a unit of wholesale electricity, and vice versa.” It is much tougher than it looks to use the phrases ipso facto and vice versa in the same sentence.

At the end of line 36, there was no question. Paul Clement, bless his heart, managed to give an answer. He was shortly thereafter interrupted by Justice Breyer.

 

 

 

H/T Sean Marotta