Get your Supreme Court Justice Bobbleheads today! Celebrate humor in the Supreme Court! The law journal The Green Bag is to release an analysis of humor in Supreme Court proceedings, reports the New York Times.
Who’s the funniest Supreme Court justice? Until recently we had no way of knowing, since court transcripts didn’t indicate which Supreme Court justice was speaking. Now they do, and Boston University law professor Jay Wexler has analyzed the data to determine who the funniest Supreme Court justice is.
“Click me,” said Scalia.Justice Scalia was the funniest justice, at 77 “laughing episodes.” On average, he was good for slightly more than one laugh – 1.027, to be precise – per argument.
Justice Stephen G. Breyer was next, at 45 laughs. Justice Ginsburg produced but four laughs. Justice Clarence Thomas, who rarely speaks during arguments, gave rise to no laughter at all.
Of course, what passes for humor at the Supreme Court would probably not kill at the local comedy club. Consider, for instance, the golden opportunity on Halloween this year when a light bulb in the courtroom’s ceiling exploded during an argument.
It takes two justices, it turns out, to screw up a light bulb joke.
“It’s a trick they play on new chief justices all the time,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who joined the court that month, said of the explosion.
“[Laughter.]”
“Happy Halloween,” Justice Scalia retorted.
“[Laughter.]”
And then, the kicker. “We’re even more in the dark now than before,” Chief Justice Roberts said.
“[Laughter.]” — New York Times
Be sure to visit The Green Bag to find out how to get bobbleheads of all the Supreme Court justices!
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