Supreme Court Oral Argument, Gutknecht v. United States

Michael Tigar’s Notes:

Gutknecht v. United States, 396 U.S. 295 (1970).  This was my first Supreme Court oral argument, made pro hac vice because I was not yet eligible to be a member of the Supreme Court Bar.  2Gutknecht#1 ends as Assistant Attorney General Ruckelshausbegins his argument, and as Justice Douglas asks him a question.  2Gutknecht#2 continues that exchange.  Solicitor General Griswold had refused to sign the government’s brief.  Note that Justice Douglas’s questions key in on the basis for his eventual majority opinion for the Court.  My peroration in the initial argument is, in retrospect, a bit over the top; good theme, but too many words.  The briefs in Gutknecht and its companion case, Breen, are in the folder entitled 1960s.

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