Hyping the Hypothetical: Talk and Temporality in US Supreme Court Oral Arguments

• Published in: Qualitative sociology Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 249 - 279
• Main Author: Gibson, David R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bans; Citizen participation; Conversation analysis; Cross Cultural Psychology; Debates; Federal court decisions; Law; Machinery; Personality and Social Psychology; Political finance; Prior knowledge; Qualitative research; Social Sciences; Sociology; Speech; Supreme courts; Time; Verbal communication; United States > US; Hypotheticals; Conversation analysis; Temporality; Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court conducts much of its business through talk, including during oral arguments, where a central activity is the consideration of hypotheticals posed by justices. Using conversation analysis, I examine a key segment of the oral arguments for Citizens United v. FEC , one that arguabl...