{"id":417,"date":"2026-07-22T13:42:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=417"},"modified":"2026-07-22T13:42:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:42:03","slug":"the-live-blog-comments-that-stuck-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=417","title":{"rendered":"The live blog comments that stuck with us"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

One of SCOTUSblog\u2019s most popular features is our live blogging during major oral arguments and opinion hand down days. Throughout these live chats, our moderators (led by Amy) not only provide what\u2019s happening at the court in real time, but we also feature plenty of comments and questions by readers (and, yes, we apologize for not including yours).<\/p>\n

Read more Judicial ethics in the spotlight<\/a><\/p>\n

Although such questions and comments usually concern when a particular opinion is likely to be released (we don\u2019t know until the last opinion announcement day) and whether there is live audio from the courtroom (there is not), every once in a while we also get some levity. Given this, we thought it might help relieve the summer doldrums to dig out some of the best lines posted in live blogs during the 2025-26 term.<\/p>\n

Before getting to this term, however, we wanted to feature our favorite comment from the 2024-25 term which, indeed, inspired this very piece. This was an entirely earnest question, met with a less than earnest response:<\/p>\n

(For those still wondering, the clerks are not actually entombed with their justices. Rather, as Zach said, they will be subsumed (consumed?) by the chambers of another justice. When Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016, for example, his four law clerks were reassigned \u2013 providing other justices with a fifth clerk through the end of the term.)<\/p>\n

The 2025-26 term<\/strong><\/p>\n

Returning to the recently concluded term, we hosted 29 live blogs, from November\u2019s oral argument in Learning Resources v. Trump<\/em> (the tariffs case) to the final day of opinion announcements on June 30 \u2013 and folks kept things lively the whole way through.<\/p>\n

There were at least two recurring topics every blog session: the box count and #WaitingForAmy. While you can read more about the box count here (and below), the TLDR is that the Supreme Court\u2019s Public Information Office uses boxes to bring copies of the day\u2019s opinions to the press room at 9:55 a.m. (five minutes before they are announced by the court). From the number of boxes, Supreme Court watchers can get an idea (albeit not a precise one) of how many opinions may be released that day, as each box typically contains one to three of these.<\/p>\n

As for the \u201cWaiting For Amy\u201d hashtag, that is somewhat self-explanatory \u2013 Amy is live from the press room when opinions are announced and reports back to the live blog what opinion has been released and its result, sometimes before it is posted on the court\u2019s website. (Please email if you would like a \u201cWaiting For Amy\u201d sticker. We\u2019re serious.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, let\u2019s begin with November\u2019s live blog.<\/p>\n

Waiting for tariffs<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the Learning Resources <\/em> on Nov. 5, Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked Benjamin Gutman, the solicitor general of Oregon, about the \u201cdonut hole\u201d in the statutory language of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. (Gutman represented a group of 12 states that brought a lawsuit in the Court of International Trade against the tariffs imposed under IEEPA by President Donald Trump.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would a rational Congress say: Yeah, we\u2019re going to give the President the power to shut down trade [but couldn\u2019t levy a 1% tariff]. I mean, think about the effects. But you\u2019re admitting that power\u2019s in there,\u201d Kavanaugh asked.<\/p>\n

Gutman replied: \u201cI think it absolutely does because it\u2019s a fundamentally different power. It\u2019s \u2013 it\u2019s not a donut hole; it\u2019s \u2013 it\u2019s a different kind of pastry.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few live blog participants had fun with that response:<\/p>\n

The second commenter is referring to the \u201cmajor questions\u201d doctrine, the idea that Congress must be explicit when it wants to delegate power to the president for decisions with vast economic or political significance. The doctrine ended up playing a significant role in the tariffs decision, with Chief Justice John Roberts agreeing with the challengers partly on that basis (joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett \u2013 although they disagreed on aspects of the doctrine\u2019s nature).<\/p>\n

Read more The history the court would rather not see<\/a><\/p>\n

Moving on. When the first opinion hand down day of the term rolled around on Jan. 9, the court released Bowe v. United States<\/em>, a case concerning complicated questions of federal habeas law (that you can read about here if you\u2019re so inclined \u2013 our executive editor certainly is). To put it mildly, readers \u2013 many of whom were expecting the tariffs case \u2013 were somewhat disappointed.<\/p>\n

This pattern persisted the following week. Although folks continued to hope for the tariffs decision, they instead received Barrett v. United States<\/em> (which held that the double jeopardy clause\u00a0precludes a defendant from receiving two convictions for a single act that violated two firearm offenses),\u00a0Case v. Montana<\/em> (which held that officers who entered a man\u2019s home without a warrant didn\u2019t violate his Fourth Amendment rights since they had an \u201cobjectively reasonable basis for believing\u201d that someone inside needed emergency assistance), and Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections<\/em> (which decided that candidates can challenge laws on mail-in ballots). While all of these were arguably significant cases, many of our readers were once again let down, with one comparing the experience of waiting for the tariffs ruling to, well, childbirth.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 20, we gathered for yet another opinion release day.<\/p>\n

About six minutes after this exchange, the court released its long-awaited opinion in Learning Resources<\/em>, 107 days after the case was argued (and perhaps delayed by a massive concurrence by Gorsuch).<\/p>\n

The box count<\/strong><\/p>\n

As described earlier, a recurring theme on the live blog was the \u201cbox count.\u201d Per Kelsey\u2019s Closer Look on the subject: \u201cThe box question typically sparks a series of additional questions from blog newcomers and veterans alike. What are these boxes you\u2019re speaking of? Why do they matter? And, more recently, do the boxes seem heavy or light?\u201d<\/p>\n

Such questions came up on Feb. 25, when the court released its opinions in\u00a0Villarreal v. Texas<\/em> (which held that a court can order a defendant and their lawyer not to discuss the defendant\u2019s testimony during an overnight recess) and\u00a0The GEO Group, Inc. v. Menocal<\/em> (rejecting an ICE contractor\u2019s right to an immediate appeal from a district court judgment).<\/p>\n

The box count \u2013 and each box\u2019s puffiness \u2013 proved a popular topic throughout the rest of the term:<\/p>\n

Also:<\/p>\n

And:<\/p>\n

Everything else<\/strong><\/p>\n

On March 2, the justices heard argument in United States v. Hemani<\/em>, a case about whether prosecuting an individual for knowingly possessing a gun while being an unlawful user of a controlled substance is consistent with the Second Amendment. By nature, this would not seem likely a particularly humorous topic. Nevertheless, things took a turn when the justices began questioning whether \u201chabitual drunkard laws\u201d (which justified disarming individuals around the time of the founding) could historically be compared to laws concerning drug users \u2013 and then showed a rather shallow knowledge of certain drugs.<\/p>\n

Approximately a month later, on April 1, the birthright citizenship case came before the court, perhaps the most anticipated argument of the term. Unsurprisingly, this yielded a great deal of live blog comments, but, again, some unexpected humor (especially given the seriousness of what was being argued).<\/p>\n

Lastly, some honorable mentions:<\/p>\n

May 21, 2026<\/em>:<\/p>\n

May 21, 2026<\/em>:<\/p>\n

May 28, 2026<\/em>:<\/p>\n

June 11, 2026<\/em>:<\/p>\n

June 18, 2026<\/em>:<\/p>\n

June 18, 2026<\/em>:<\/p>\n

June 23, 2026<\/em>:<\/p>\n

June 23, 2026<\/em>:<\/p>\n

June 25, 2026<\/em>:<\/p>\n

And to wrap things up on June 30, our last live blog of the term:<\/p>\n

As we always say at the live blog\u2019s end: Thanks for joining us and see you next time.<\/p>\n

Read more Heller and Bruen are here to stay<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of SCOTUSblog\u2019s most popular features is our live blogging during major oral arguments and opinion hand down days. 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