Okay, so we're recording this on Monday at 11.45 a.m.

We're meeting as a sort of special session. So what do you want to talk about today?

We're gonna talk about legal procedure. I know that sounds really boring

But I've learned not from you. We won't be boring from you

But I promise I'm gonna show you why it's actually pretty interesting and maybe sometimes just as important or even more important than the

Right stuff that we talk about. Okay cool

So when we think about the US Supreme Court and when it decides important and particularly controversial issues

What we're talking about is what's called its merits docket docket just means it's list of legal proceedings

So every year

Literally thousands of people who have lost their legal case ask the Supreme Court to hear their case

You know what's happened here is that somebody has lost a case could be civil or criminal and the case started at

State Court or federal court and then went up to an appeals court and then sometimes even to a state Supreme Court

And so by the time a losing party says hey Supreme Court, please hear my case a lot of courts have already weighed it

They've already said you know we've decided against you or maybe at some level they said they've decided for you

But at any point by the time you get to the Supreme Court, you're usually a loser. You want someone to hear your case one last time

Of those thousands of cases the Supreme Court decides to hear about

60 to 70 a year so not that many and when it comes to those kinds of cases whether we're talking about

Individual rights or the power of the federal government to make laws the Supreme Court has the two sides submit usually two rounds of legal briefs

These are written arguments about why they should win and then there's an oral argument that's scheduled months in advance

When it comes to really high profile cases the ones that we all read about in the newspapers

You might also get several amicus or friend of the court briefs

These are legal briefs that are written by the parties who aren't part of the case

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