SUPREME
JUDICIAL COURT AND SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL
TO BEGIN ARCHIVING WEBCASTS OF ORAL ARGUMENTS;
Live Web Broadcasts of Court Proceedings to Resume in September
Boston, MA — The
Supreme Judicial Court, in partnership with Suffolk
University Law School, today announced that webcasts
of oral arguments at the Supreme Judicial Court will
be archived and accessible on the Internet within four
days of the court proceedings.
Last
May the Supreme Judicial Court and Suffolk University
Law School began live broadcasts of oral arguments
at the Supreme Judicial Court in the John Adams Courthouse.
The live broadcasts will resume next week when the
Supreme Judicial Court begins its new court year on
September 6,7, 8, and 9. Oral arguments begin at 9:00
a.m. and can be viewed and heard online at www.suffolk.edu/sjc.
Each
case takes approximately thirty minutes.
A schedule and brief summary of the court cases to
be broadcast are also available on the website. The
SJC hears oral arguments the first week of every month
from September through May.
Supreme
Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall said, "Live
web broadcasts of the Court's oral arguments were successfully
launched last spring with the assistance of Suffolk
University Law School. Archiving webcasts of court
proceedings will now allow people everywhere the opportunity
to observe the Justices and lawyers discussing legal
matters that affect people's lives at times that are
convenient for them."
Suffolk
University Law School Dean Robert H. Smith said, "Our
ongoing pilot program with the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court has been a measurable success with lawyers,
who can now observe the SJC arguments without ever
having to leave their desks. Key to the archives is
that people can plug in and access arguments, but more
importantly, they can experience "real-time" interaction
between justices and counsel. These streaming broadcasts
are not only an advancement of Suffolk's academic technology
initiatives, but also the SJC's agenda to make oral
advocacy more public."
Established
in 1692, the Supreme Judicial Court is the oldest appellate
court in continuous existence in the Western Hemisphere.
The Supreme Judicial Court, the Appeals Court, and
the Social Law Library, the nation's oldest law library,
are housed in the John Adams Courthouse on Pemberton
Square. The courthouse was dedicated on March 31, 2005.
For
nearly 100 years, Suffolk University Law School, in
the heart of downtown Boston, has remained one of the
most respected names in legal education. Its expansive
curriculum — more than 200 upper-level elective
courses, specialty concentrations, joint degree programs
and an LL.M. in global technology — enables students
to gain a strong academic foundation. A wide range
of hands-on experience, including clinical programs,
internships and moot court competitions, provides students
the practical skills necessary to succeed. Suffolk
Law's diverse and supportive community comes together
in Sargent Hall, which was dedicated in 1999 and is
among the country's most inspiring, modern and technologically
advanced settings for the study of law.
