OPENNESS WATCH : Hearing Aid

What’s wrong with giving the public the chance to hear--literally to hear, and not just to read about--some of the arguments made before the U.S. Supreme Court in major cases? Clearly the answer is that there’s nothing wrong with the idea at all, but it has taken the high court until now to come around to agreeing that the public has the right to such access.

Credit a UC San Diego political science professor, Peter Irons, with forcing that decision. Irons made copies of tapes of oral arguments that had been deposited by the Supreme Court with the National Archives. He put together edited versions of arguments in 23 major cases and marketed them with a book in a package that sells for $75. So far about 60,000 copies have been sold. Why had nobody done such a thing before? Mainly because researchers with access to the archives have been forced to sign an agreement not to disseminate the tapes. Irons signed such an agreement but then ignored it, saying the restriction was plainly antithetical to the public good. He’s right. Arguments made before the court are, after all, on the public record, and since the actual voices of participants in arguments have been preserved it’s absurd not to let the larger public hear what has been said.

Tapes of oral arguments before the court have been made since 1955. Pretty soon it appears that anyone will be able to buy copies from the National Archives. There’s a lot of substance embodied in those recordings. At long last Americans will have a chance to listen in on legal history being made.