Supreme Court, the case is in your hands and you are on the clock.

Jet airplane travel and the digital age have sped up almost everything.  Even so, the time between oral argument and a decision in the United States Supreme Court never seems to accelerate.  Although the average interval is about four months, some cases take much longer.  The very first case presented for oral argument in the Supreme Court was heard on August 2, 1791 and decided the next day, August 3, 1791. The case is West v. Barnes, and each of the justices issued a separate opinion.  William West lost the case and consequently lost his Rhode Island farm.  However, he was not kept on tenterhooks for months awaiting the court's decision.  We should strive for such swift justice for all litigants.
John Greanias, Copyright 2014