Audiotape of gun case out early

By Lyle Denniston
on Mar 4, 2008 at 5:38 pm

The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it will release the audiotapes of the oral argument in the Second Amendment case, District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290), shortly after the argument concludes on Tuesday, March 18.  The case is scheduled for one hour and 15 minutes, with each side having 30 minutes and the U.S. Solicitor General having 15.  The Court’s press release can be found here.  C-SPAN cable network sought the early release; the network’s news release Tuesday can be found here.

With the case scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., the hearing should run at least until 11:15 or so; the Chief Justice, however, may allow counsel additional time as the hearing proceeds; there is no other case scheduled for argument that day.

This is the third case this Term for which the Court has released the audiotapes on a same-day basis: the other two involved the legal rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees, and constitutional issues surrounding the use of lethal injections in death-row executions.

In addition to the prompt release of the audiotapes in the D.C. gun case, the Court, as usual, will release the written transcript of the argument by early afternoon, at the latest, that day.

This blog will provide links to the audio feeds, first on a streaming basis and then in a format that can be downloaded. The blog also will post the written transcript as soon as it becomes available.