WASHINGTON (AP) — It's taken a worldwide pandemic for justices of the Supreme Court to agree to hear arguments over the telephone, with audio available live for the first time.
The dramatic change is a product of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Most of the justices are at risk of serious illness if they become infected because of their advanced age.
Yet the court also wants to decide significant cases by its traditional summer break.
Live audio is significant for a court that waited until two years ago to make case filings available online, decades after other courts.