Every case argued before
the seven justices has a time limit. Normally, each side has 15 minutes for
oral argument, while in death penalty cases, the time limit is 30 minutes per
side.
Watch the oral
arguments on our website, www.sc.ohio.gov. You may notice that the appellant’s
attorney asks to reserve a few minutes of argument time for rebuttal. That way,
after the appellee’s attorney makes a critical point, he or she can respond
adequately. Sometimes, of course,
questions by the justices eat up the time and the arguments are then over. Only
the Chief Justice can extend the time.
Attorneys are told
to keep track of time by watching a digital clock at their lectern. Although no
buzzer sounds as it does when 35-seconds elapses on the basketball court, the attorneys
who argue do receive a times-up notice: the
red light flashes on the lectern. They need to wrap up their thoughts quickly
when that red light appears, and as the words over the courtroom doorway state
in Latin—“While I speak, time flies.”
And so the legal
contest of an appellate argument has at least one thing in common with
sports—strict timing. Enjoy the March Madness on the basketball court, and may
your team win!
