Transcripts of U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments show that Justice Antonin Scalia received the the most "((laughter))" notations for his quips, according to a story set for the front page of Saturday's New York Times, RAW STORY has learned.
The story builds off of the research compiled by Boston University law professor, Jay D. Wexler, who had it published in a law journal. While Scalia was judged to be 19 times as funny as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Clarence Thomas earned no "((laughter))" notations at all.
Excerpts from the article:
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Scalia was the funniest justice, at 77 "laughing episodes." On average, he was good for slightly more than one laugh -- 1.027, to be precise -- per argument.
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The simple notation "((laughter))" does not, moreover, distinguish between "a series of small chuckles" and "a joke that brought the house down." Nor, Wexler said, does it separate "the genuine laughter brought about by truly funny or clever humor and the anxious kind of laughter that arises when one feels nervous or uncomfortable or just plain scared for the nation's future."
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Scalia's numbers may similarly overstate his wit, if only because the courtroom expects quips from him and may laugh at the least provocation. Also, he tried hard.
"He plays to the crowd," said Pamela S. Karlan, a law professor at Stanford and Supreme Court advocate who has garnered her own share of laughter notations in the transcripts.
