The Oyez Project, at www.oyez.org, has made it possible for anyone to listen to the oral argument in most U.S. Supreme Court cases of the past sixty years. Go to that web page. Choose “cases”. Then choose the decade the case was argued. Then choose the year it was argued. Then find the cases for that year, which are listed in alphabetical order. When one finds the case, one clicks on “oral argument” and then on “Download MP3.”

I just listened to the hour-long argument in Storer v Brown, a very important ballot access case argued in 1973. This resource is very useful for any historian or analyst of U.S. Supreme Court behavior. Although transcripts of these old oral arguments have long been available, listening to the argument is far more useful. The old transcripts don’t identify which justice said which statement, but veterans of the U.S. Supreme Court can know which justice spoke if they recognize that justice’s voice. Thanks to HowAppealing for the news about this resource.

According to this story, Dunsmuir, California’s city council cannot act on any matter whatsoever, because a quorum is three members, but the city council now has only two members. Dunsmuir, like almost all California cities, normally has a 5-person city council, but three of the members resigned. With no quorum, no business can be conducted, not even calling a special election or taking other action to fill the vacancies.

Think New Mexico, a non-partisan think tank, has asked the Republican Party of New Mexico, and also the Democratic Party of New Mexico, to amend their bylaws and let independent voters participate in their primaries. See this story. New Mexico was one of the last states in the nation to even have primaries. Until 1938, all parties nominated by convention. Primaries have existed since 1938, but have always been closed.

Here is more information about Think New Mexico. The group understands case law, and in its advocacy to the parties, correctly points out that the decision on whether to let independents vote in party primaries is a decision for the party to make, not a decision for the state.