An interesting day at the United States Supreme Court today..

[madinmaryland]

It was the first time I had ever been to the USSC. The court itself is quite ornate and almost overwhelming. The case was in regards to the state's right to release or not release DNA evidence. The state was arguing that they had procedures set in place would allow the DA to release the DNA evidence, and that the defendant had not followed the procedures. This case was the result of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals allowing for the release of DNA evidence.

I found that all of the justices (except for one) were very engaged in the arguments from both sides. Though obviously the right leaning justices pointed their questions toward the left leaning side defendants, and the left leaning justices pointed their questions towards the state. My thoughts on the justices:

Roberts - Asked a lot of questions and framed many as hypotheticals.

Scalia - This one surprised me. He asked a lot of questions (without much of the snark that has been attributed to him here.

Alito - Similar to Roberts.

Ginsburg - Asked a lot of questions and had probably the best and most pointed questions.

Breyer - Asked very pointed questions and was as one of the attorneys said was almost hostile to the state. He and Scalia seemed to have a underlying argument going on.

Souter - Similar to Ginsburg.

Kennedy - As seems to be the case, he really did not show any favoritism to either side and asked questions of both sides.

Stevens - Asked a few questions throughout the hearing. His tended to be towards the state's case.

Thomas - Asked no questions. Appeared to be reading something throughout the oral arguement.