There are some patent decisions that came out today, and some terrorism cases, which are concievably relevant to the exams I take tomorrow and Friday. So I spent a few moments poking SCOTUSblog just now.
The KSR ruling is a big deal, but I think maybe Scott v. Harris may be bigger ruling in some general, historic sense. In the case, the court links to a video on the court’s website- a full-blown leap out of good-old-fashioned text (’if it was good enough for Roman lawyers, it is good enough for us’), straight past audio, and right out into video.
For a court that still doesn’t like to have their deliberations videotaped, this is a big step. In not to long a time, many of us will be carrying video cameras around, and lots more cases are going to include video testimony. For the court to sanction video as not just a part of evidence (which has been going on for some time), but as something that can and should be referred to as a critical part of a supreme court decision, really feels like a big step towards admitting that the world is getting less and less textual. Now, if only the search engines would catch up…
[HT: SCOTUSblog.]