First Supreme Court Oral Argument

On January 11th, I attended the Supreme Court’s oral argument on the J. McIntyre Machinery, LTD v. Nicastro case. This was my first oral argument, although I had toured the Supreme Court before. I heard that attending arguments is sometimes quite difficult, but there was no problem getting in.

I didn’t really know what to expect. Since the Supreme Court is not televised, one most resort to the print industry to keep abreast on current opinions. However, I quickly became fascinated with the judiciary.

According to the Cornell University Law School’s website, the issue presented in the case read, “Where a foreign manufacturer has an exclusive distribution agreement with an independent company in the United States, does national distribution provide sufficient contacts to subject that manufacturer to personal jurisdiction in a products liability suit in a state the defendant does not explicitly target as a market for its products?” I did no research on the case prior to attending, and in hindsight, it probably would have been beneficial. I immediately became lost as the court started its proceedings.

What I will comment on are my reactions while observing. I thought Justice Breyer asked the most pointed questions. Justices Sotomayor and Kagan also contributed substantially in the questioning. I was particularly interested in hearing what Justice Alito had to ask, and he did pose a question toward the end of the argument. However, noticeably silent was Justice Thomas. I kid you not, he appeared to be sleeping most of the time! Subsequent research has found that Justice Thomas has not asked a question in several years.

I can’t back this up with much reasoning, but I thought the defendants presented their arguments better. Attending this oral argument has increased my curiosity toward the judicial branch. Until now, my entire focus has been solely on the legislative branch. It is now time to learn more about the United States Courts. And I’ll be eagerly awaiting the court’s opinion on J. McIntyre Machinery, LTD v. Nicastro!

---JGY