U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments
The Supreme Court of the United States began recording oral arguments in the 1955 October Term. The Court began printing transcripts of oral arguments in the 1968 October Term.
The National Archives houses audio recordings and transcripts of Supreme Court oral arguments. These records are found in Record Group 267, Records of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Audio Recordings of Oral Arguments
The Moving Image and Sound Branch at the National Archives at College Park houses audio recordings of Supreme Court oral arguments. Many of these recordings have been digitized and made available in the National Archives Catalog:
- “Sound Recordings of Oral Arguments – Black Series, 10/1955–12/1972” (National Archives Identifier 77820785)
- “Sound Recordings of Oral Arguments – Red Series, 12/1972–1/2002” (National Archives Identifier 105447)
For questions related to these records, please contact the Moving Image and Sound Branch at mopix@nara.gov.
Recent Audio Recordings
Audio recordings of oral arguments for recent cases heard by the Supreme Court are available to the public at the end of each argument week. Recordings are posted to the Court's website. Recordings from as far back as the Court's 2010 Term are also available on this site.
Transcripts of Oral Arguments
The National Archives Building in Washington, DC (Archives 1), houses transcripts of Supreme Court oral arguments in the following series:
- “Printed Transcripts of Oral Arguments, 1968 October Term through the 2017 October Term” (Entry A1-17 in Record Group 267; National Archives Identifier 562621)
This series is arranged by case file number. For guidance in identifying the case file number, see Accessing Appellate Case Files.
For questions related to these records, please contact the Archives 1 Reference Branch at archives1reference@nara.gov.
Appellate Case Files
If the transcripts of oral arguments for a particular case are not in Entry A1-17, they might be consolidated with other case documentation in the following series:
- “Appellate Jurisdiction Case Files, 1792–2017” (Entry A1-21 in Record Group 267; National Archives Identifier 301668)
This series is also housed at Archives 1. It is arranged by case file number. For more information, see U.S. Supreme Court Appellate Case Files.
For questions related to these records, please contact the Archives 1 Reference Branch at archives1reference@nara.gov.
Recent Transcripts
Transcripts of oral arguments heard by the Supreme Court are posted on the Court's website on the same day that the arguments are heard. Transcripts from as far back as the Court's 1968 Term are also available on this site.