The chief justice calls the case number, the clock begins running and the struggle begins. It's the hard questions that bring out the best in the lawyer, and only answers to the hard questions have a chance of affecting the outcome. The sparring so far this term has been especially intense and brisk. A second round of oral arguments begins today as the court returns from a brief recess. Just as the justices have their patented ways of unnerving a lawyer, the men and women at the lectern have their own strategies for staying on track.
Humiliation is part of being there.
Get over it. It was in that campaign finance case that Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist chastised Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for interrupting lawyer Bruce La Pierre, who was challenging the Missouri law as a restriction on free speech. When pushed, don't back down. The justices constantly try to get advocates to capitulate. Rehnquist shot back.