No More Lines: Millions Stream Live Supreme Court Arguments

Filed under database | September 22, 2022

On April 13, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court Public Information Office released a statement announcing that the court would hear oral arguments by telephone conference during the May 2020 argument session. For the first time in history, the court provided a live audio feed of these arguments to the general public and news media. Over 130,000 people tuned in live to arguments in May 2020, compared to the 50 to 100 members of the public who are able to attend in-person oral arguments in each case when the court is open.

While Supreme Court hearings were open to the public long before oral arguments were available online, comparing the limited few that can be admitted in person to the millions poised to tune in online demonstrates that this availability is not only an issue of transparency but accessibility. Limiting real-time observance of our judicial branch to in-person attendees disproportionately affects those who lack the means to travel to Washington, DC, as well as those with disabilities. Additionally, though the court provides transcripts, it has yet to provide closed captioning alongside the audio or provide transcripts in any language additional to English. It’s worth noting that the legislative branch has allowed C-SPAN to publicize floor debates for decades, so there is precedent for allowing the public virtual access to the inner workings of our government.

On September 16, 2020, the court reauthorized streaming arguments via telephone conference throughout the October 2020 term. The court subsequently reauthorized telephonic arguments on a monthly basis through May 2021. Providing live audio access to these cases has shown that the court can balance increased access with the integrity of its proceedings. Just as importantly, the fact that the so many people have tuned in has convincingly demonstrated the public’s appetite to observe the operations of the court.

On September 8, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court Public Information Office released a statement announcing that the court would hear oral arguments in the courtroom and provide live audio for the October, November, and December oral arguments on its website. For the first time, the Supreme Court is providing its own live stream of oral arguments on its website.

On December 6, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court Public Information Office released a statement announcing an extension for live audio for the January and February 2022 argument sessions. On March 11, 2022, the Supreme Court Public Information Office released a statement announcing an extension for live audio for March oral arguments. On April 11, 2022, the Supreme Court Public Information Office released a statement announcing an extension for live audio for April oral arguments.

As of September, 1, 2022, oral arguments from the October 2021 term (October 4, 2021 – April 27, 2022) have been streamed at least 3.8 million times. Below is a summary. Numbers are as current as September 1, 2022. On September, 28, 2022, the court announced it would provide a live audio feed for the entirety of the upcoming term. It has yet to commit to a permanently providing online access.

2019-2020 Term Arguments: 2,045,677 Streams

May 2020 Argument Session: 2,045,677 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
05/04/2020	U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com	529,724	C-SPAN (41,911); NBC (375,000 as of 5/7/2020); PBS (34,815); CBS (29,144); WaPo (48,854)
05/05/2020	United States Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc.	53,109	C-SPAN (7,779); PBS (17,630); NowThis (3,596); CBS News (24,104)
05/06/20	1. Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania (consolidated with Trump v. Pennsylvania) 2. Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants	114,397	1. C-SPAN (14,620); PBS (17,267); CBS News (25,156 for both cases); NowThis (9,390); CNBC (29,906); AP (5,577 for both cases) 2. C-SPAN (6,305); PBS (6,176)
05/11/20	1. McGirt v. Oklahoma 2. Our Lady of Guadalupe v. Morrissey-Berru (consolidated with St. James School v. Biel)	83,259	1. C-SPAN (15,441); WaPo (21,638 for both cases); PBS (41,146 for both cases) 2. C-SPAN (5,034)
05/12/20	1. Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP (consolidated with Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG) 2. Trump v. Vance	1,041,376	1. C-SPAN (75,988); NBC (444,301 for both cases); WaPo (76,024 for both cases); ABC (149,369 for both cases); CBS (116,030 for both cases); PBS (86,230 for both cases); Fox Business (46,967 for both cases); NowThis (15,077 for both cases); AP (5,694 for both cases) 2. C-SPAN (25,696)
05/13/20	1. Chiafalo v. Washington 2. Colorado Department of State v. Baca	223,812	1. C-SPAN (14,103); NBC (124,051 for both cases); CBS (30,079 for both cases); PBS (38,369 for both cases); NowThis (6,762 for both cases) 2. C-SPAN (10,738)

2020-2021 Term Arguments: 995,088 Total Streams

October 2020 Argument Session: 27,800 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
10/05/2020	Carney v. Adams	1,859	C-SPAN
10/05/2020	Texas v. New Mexico	1,663	C-SPAN
10/06/2020	Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association	2,460	C-SPAN
10/06/2020	Tanzin v. Tanvir	1,456	C-SPAN
10/07/2020	Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc.	8,887	C-SPAN
10/07/2020	Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court (consolidated with Ford Motor Company v. Bandemer)	1,915	C-SPAN
10/13/20	United States v. Briggs (consolidated with United States v. Collins)	2,065	C-SPAN
10/13/20	City of Chicago v. Fulton	1,703	C-SPAN
10/14/20	Torres v. Madrid	3,533	C-SPAN
10/14/20	Pereida v. Wilkinson	2,259	C-SPAN

November 2020 Argument Session: 707,464 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
11/02/20	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club	4,856	C-SPAN
11/02/20	Salinas v. United States Railroad Retirement Board	2,345	C-SPAN
11/03/20	Jones v. Mississippi	5,633	C-SPAN
11/03/20	Borden v. United States	2,164	C-SPAN
11/04/20	Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	12,859	C-SPAN
11/09/20	Niz-Chavez v. Garland	4,439	C-SPAN
11/09/20	Brownback v. King	2,832	C-SPAN
11/10/20	Texas v. California (consolidated with California v. Texas)	672,336	C-SPAN (28,337); C-SPAN YouTube (539,197); CNBC (98,643)

December 2020 Argument Session: 46,257 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
11/30/20	Trump v. New York	14,831	C-SPAN
11/30/20	Van Buren v. United States	3,595	C-SPAN
12/01/20	Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe I (consolidated with Cargill v. Doe I)	6,609	C-SPAN
12/01/20	CIC Services, LLC v. IRS	1,595	C-SPAN
12/02/20	Edwards v. Vannoy	3,267	C-SPAN
12/07/20	Hungary v. Simon	2,050	C-SPAN
12/07/20	Germany v. Philipp	1,532	C-SPAN
12/08/20	Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid	4,638	C-SPAN
12/08/20	Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer and White Sales, Inc.	1,029	C-SPAN
12/09/20	Collins v. Yellen (consolidated with Yellen v. Collins)	7,111	C-SPAN

January 2021 Argument Session: 12,142 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
01/11/21	Johnson v. Chavez	2,423	C-SPAN
01/12/21	Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski	2,927	C-SPAN
01/13/21	AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC	2,056	C-SPAN
01/19/21	Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC (consolidated with National Association of Broadcasters v. Prometheus Radio Project)	2,297	C-SPAN
01/19/21	BP, PLC v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore	2,439	C-SPAN

February 2021 Argument Session: 7,112 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
02/22/21	Florida v. Georgia	2,702	C-SPAN
02/23/21	Garland v. Dai (consolidated with Garland v. Alcaraz-Enriquez)	1,401	C-SPAN
02/24/21	Lange v. California	3,009	C-SPAN

March 2021 Argument Session: 39,085 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
03/01/21	Arthrex Inc. v. Smith & Nephew Inc. (consolidated with U.S. v. Arthrex Inc. and Smith & Nephew Inc. v. Arthrex Inc.)	2,138	C-SPAN
03/02/21	Brnovich v. DNC (consolidated with Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee)	11,330	C-SPAN
03/03/21	Carr v. Saul (consolidated with Davis v. Saul)	1,906	C-SPAN
03/22/21	Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid	2,860	C-SPAN
03/23/21	United States v. Cooley	2,585	C-SPAN
03/24/21	Caniglia v. Strom	4,644	C-SPAN
03/29/21	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System	1,170	C-SPAN
03/30/21	TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez	1,558	C-SPAN
03/31/21	NCAA v. Alston (consolidated with American Athletic Conference v. Alston)	10,894	C-SPAN

April 2021 Argument Session: 151,462 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
04/19/21	Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of Chehalis Reservation (consolidated with Alaska Native Village Corp. v. Confederated Tribes of Chehalis)	1,545	C-SPAN
04/19/21	Sanchez v. Mayorkas, Sec. of Homeland Security	1,723	C-SPAN
04/20/21	Greer v. United States	817	C-SPAN
04/20/21	United States v. Gary	916	C-SPAN
04/21/21	City of San Antonio v. Hotels.com	818	C-SPAN
04/21/21	Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc.	1,232	C-SPAN
04/26/21	1. Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (consolidated with Thomas More Law Center v. Bonta) 2. Guam v. United States	133,617	1. C-SPAN (2,557) 2. C-SPAN (1,091); PBS (123,594 for both cases)
04/27/21	HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC v. Renewable Fuels Association	1,206	C-SPAN
04/27/21	United States v. Palomar-Santiago	726	C-SPAN
04/28/21	Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L.	7,763	C-SPAN
04/28/21	PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey	1,101	C-SPAN

May 2021 Argument Session: 3,766 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
05/04/21	Terry v. U.S.	3,766	C-SPAN

2021-2022 Term Arguments: 3,833,659 Streams

October 2021 Argument Session: 32,140 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
10/04/21	1. Mississippi v. Tennessee 2. Wooden v. United States	7,662	1. C-SPAN (4,608) 2. C-SPAN (3,054)
10/05/21	1. Brown v. Davenport 2. Hemphill v. New York	2,438	1. C-SPAN (1,224) 2. C-SPAN (1,214)
10/06/21	United States v. Zubaydah	2,692	C-SPAN
10/12/21	1. Cameron v. EMW Women's Surgical Center, P.S.C 2. Thompson v. Clark	10,460	1. C-SPAN (2,657); NowThis News (6,635) 2. C-SPAN (1,168)
10/13/21	1. United States v. Tsarnaev 2. Babcock v. Kijakazi	8,888	1. C-SPAN (3,648); NowThis News (4,352) 2. C-SPAN (888)

November 2021 Argument Session: 691,502 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
11/01/21	Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson and United States v. Texas	443,715	C-SPAN (8,575); C-SPAN YouTube, with live captioning (39,191); NBC News (174,351); Washington Post (12,813); PBS NewsHour (113,677); Reuters (79,488); NowThis News (6,032); WFAA, ABC affiliate in Dallas, TX (5,562); KVUE, ABC affiliate in Austin, TX (4,026)
11/02/21	1. Houston Community College System v. Wilson 2. Badgerow v. Walters	1,874	1. C-SPAN (1,228) 2. C-SPAN (646)
11/03/21	New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen	151,235	C-SPAN (21,410); CBS News (74,284); PBS NewsHour (46,438); NowThis News (3,680); Atlanta Journal-Constitution (5,423)
11/08/21	1. Federal Bureau of Investigation v. Fazaga 2. Unicolors, Inc v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, LP	85,749	1. C-SPAN (2,098); PBS Newshour (82,765) 2. C-S PAN (886)
11/09/21	1. United States v. Vaello-Madero 2. Ramirez v. Collier	4,037	1. C-SPAN (2,008) 2. C-SPAN (2,029)
11/10/21	City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National Advertising of Texas Inc.	1,240	C-SPAN
11/29/21	Becerra v. Empire Health Foundation	972	C-SPAN
11/30/21	1. Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, P.L.L.C. 2. American Hospital Association v. Becerra	2,680	1. C-SPAN (983) 2. C-SPAN (1,697)

December 2021 Argument Session: 1,007,166 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
12/01/21	Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization	957,174	C-SPAN (57,891); C-SPAN YouTube (368,941); NBC News (143,536); Washington Post (157,889); CBS News (24,047); PBS Newshour (93,925); Reuters (56,063); CBN News (9,118); USA Today (17,876); Guardian News (13,384); NowThis News (5,055); 16 WAPT News, ABC affiliate in Jackson, MS (807); KHOU 11 (8,642)
12/06/21	1. Patel v. Garland 2. Hughes v. Northwestern University	2,345	1. C-SPAN (1,647) 2. C-SPAN (698)
12/07/21	United States v. Taylor	1,176	C-SPAN
12/08/21	1. Carson v. Makin 2. Shinn v. Ramirez	46,471	1. C-SPAN (3,286); PBS Newshour (41,968) 2. C-SPAN (1,209)

January 2022 Argument Session: 1,418,122 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
01/07/22	1. National Federation of Indepen dent Business v. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (consolidated) 2. Biden v. Missouri	1,248,757	1. C-SPAN (78,658); Washington Post (274,109); PBS NewsHour (134,923); CBS News (91,660); Guardian News (30,952); Reuters (25,335); 10 Tampa Bay (7,207); NowThis News (7,918) 2. C-SPAN (41,016); PBS Newshours (134,923); Guardian News (30,952); Washington Post (274,109); Reuters (25,335); CBS News (91,660)
01/10/22	Gallardo v. Marstiller	27,430	C-SPAN (2,108); Forbes Breaking News (25,322)
01/11/22	1. Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez 2. Garland v. Gonzalez	30,357	1. C-SPAN (697); PBS NewsHour (28,863 for both cases) 2. C-SPAN (797)
01/12/22	Boechler, P.C. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue	796	C-SPAN
01/18/22	1. Shurtleff v. Boston 2. Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection	91,756	1. C-SPAN (2,070); PBS NewsHour (22,249 for both cases); Forbes Breaking News (66,621) 2. C-SPAN (816)
01/19/22	1. Federal Election Commission v. Ted Cruz for Senate 2. Concepcion v. United States	19,026	1. C-SPAN (2,608); Forbes Breaking News (15,661) 2. C-SPAN (757)

February 2022 Argument Session: 127,603 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
02/22/22	1. Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas 2. Denezpi v. United States	1,334	1. C-SPAN (673) 2. C-SPAN (661)
02/23/22	Arizona v. San Francisco	31,939	C-SPAN (1,158); PBS NewsHour (30,778)
02/28/22	West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (consolidated with Westmoreland Mining Holdings, LLC v. EPA, North American Coal Corp. v. EPA, and North Dakota v. EPA)	94,333	C-SPAN (3,273); PBS NewsHour (91,060)

March 2022 Argument Session: 264,595 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
03/01/22	Ruan v. United States (consolidated with Kahn v. United States)	94,819	C-SPAN (3,159); CBS News (91,660)
03/02/22	Egbert v. Boule	22,616	C-SPAN (1,105); Argument watch (324); PBS NewsHour (21,187)
03/21/22	1. Morgan v. Sundance, Inc 2. Berger v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP	2,989	1. C-SPAN (2,207) 2. C-SPAN (782)
03/22/22	Golan v. Saada	773	C-SPAN
03/23/22	ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd.	512	C-SPAN
03/28/22	1. LeDure v. Union Pacific Railroad Company 2. Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon	1,036	1. C-SPAN (485) 2. C-SPAN (551)
03/29/22	Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety	140,642	C-SPAN (382); PBS NewsHour (140,260)
03/30/33	Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana	1,208	C-SPAN

April 2022 Argument Session: 292,531 Streams

Date	Oral Argument	Streams	Sources
04/18/22	1. Siegel v. Fitzgerald 2. United States v. Washington	1,364	1. C-SPAN (600) 2. C-SPAN (764)
04/19/22	1. George v. McDonough 2. Kemp v. United States	39,226	1. C-SPAN (868); PBS NewsHour (37,810) 2. C-SPAN (548)
04/20/22	Vega v. Tekoh	23,213	C-SPAN (857); PBS NewsHour (21,861); Forbes Breaking News (495)
04/25/22	1. Kennedy v. Bremerton School District 2. Nance v. Ward	97,212	1. C-SPAN (5,232); PBS NewsHour (91,314) 2. C-SPAN (666)
04/26/22	1. Shoop v. Twyford 2. Biden v. Texas	67,301	1. C-SPAN (446) 2. C-SPAN (3,007); PBS NewsHour (53,398); CBS News (9,109); NowThis News (1,341)
04/27/22	Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta	64,215	C-SPAN (2,766); PBS NewsHour (61,449)