Justice Clarence Thomas was unusually chatty during the Supreme Court's historic livestream
The Supreme Court's Monday arguments were out of the ordinary in more ways than one.
Monday marked the first time the court had broadcast oral arguments live in its history. Justices and the lawyers for the case U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com dialed in to a conference line to debate whether Booking.com could trademark its name, some with more success than others.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor had a brief bit of difficulty when Chief Justice John Roberts asked her to chime in with questions, seemingly forgetting to unmute herself before speaking.
Justice Sotomayor seemed to have had the call on mute. CJ Roberts: "Justice Sotomayor.....Justice Sotomayor?" After a pause, Sotomayor: "I'm sorry, chief." #SCOTUS
— Josh "Wash Your Elbows" Gerstein (@joshgerstein) May 4, 2020
Justice Stephen Breyer spoke right away when called on, but had a shoddy connection that made the first few seconds of his questioning unintelligible. But Justice Clarence Thomas had no trouble asking questions comparing Booking.com to a custom 1-800 nummber — a fact made especially unusual given that he's famous for rarely speaking during arguments. It's been at least a year since Thomas asked a question during arguments, and before that, it had been three years since his voice was heard.
Justice Clarence Thomas asks a rare question during oral argument in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. https://t.co/bQ3pNASud2 B.V. oral argument.
LISTEN to complete oral argument here: https://t.co/QSEIezBQKB #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/N9n3FO4hzB
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 4, 2020
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