Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Transcripts of Arguments in Davis and Hammon
The transcripts of the arguments in Davis and Hammon are now available. You can get the Davis transcript by clicking here, and the Hammon transcript by clicking here. I'm sure every stammer of mine reported in the transcript is accurate, but there are two words reported inaccurately in the Hammon transcript that I will note here, for whatever it might be worth. On p. 3, line 12, in my very first sentence, it has me using hte word "similar" when I said "simple". And on p. 61, line 18, right in the middle of my peroration it has "abated" when I said "evaded".
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2 comments:
Mr. Friedman,
Thank you very much for your blawg, specially for the very important information and arguments that you share.
Paulo Dá Mesquita (Portugal)
(from Andrew Fine)
Transcripts can often create the impression that a speaker is hesitant or awkward-sounding, even when a live observer would attest to the fluency of his presentation.
That is certainly the case here. In person, Prof. Friedman's argument was eloquent and persuasive. Some of the the "stammering" is attributable to having to respond to compound and confusing questions (see, for instance, Justice Breyer's multiple contradictory variations on his admittedly "bad hypothetical" at pp. 4-6). Other seeming hesitations that appear on the printed page simply weren't noticeable in person. Of much greater importance is the justices' deferential manner toward him throughout, in recognition of his stature in the field (see comment of Justice Breyer at 19, regarding the present-sense-impression exception to the hearsay rule, "you're an expert in this"), and the confidence he projected in the validity of his position.
Andrew Fine
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