(Image via Getty)
Note ‘blond’ in second row, center. She is here almost daily — at least since you came!
— Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, in a note passed to Justice Harry Blackmun during an oral argument at the Supreme Court that took place in November 1971. Justices used to pass handwritten notes to each other during the arguments taking place at the high court, which Timothy Johnson, a political-science professor at the University of Minnesota who has copied more than two decades’ worth former justices’ papers, including bench notes like these, says provide “an interesting insight into what they were thinking about as the attorneys were arguing.”
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.