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At other times, Chief Justice Roberts must play the role of air traffic controller, trying to make sure his colleagues’ questions land one at a time without crashing into one another.
In November, at an argument over prison crowding in California, Justice Sotomayor jumped in while Justice Ginsburg was in the middle of a question.
“I’m sorry,” Chief Justice Roberts told the perplexed lawyer. “Could you answer Justice Ginsburg’s question first?”
Something similar happened at an argument over state secrets in January.
“Did the contract — ” Justice Kennedy started, just as Justice Sotomayor entered the fray.
“Counsel, you can’t ever give — ” she said.
Chief Justice Roberts made the call. “Justice Kennedy,” he said. After that exchange was complete, he said, “And now Justice Sotomayor.”
Something important is being lost in these rapid-fire exchanges, Mr. Wermiel said.
“A lawyer arguing a case may be only a few words into answering a multipart question from one justice before another justice interrupts to take the argument in a different direction entirely,” he said. “Some arguments now more closely resemble a Ping-Pong match than a dialogue or conversation.”
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