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6.3 %u2022 Organization of the Federal Judiciary 201Considering and Deciding on CasesIf the Supreme Court decides to grant cert in a case, it requests briefs from both plaintiff and defendant laying out their full arguments. Interested nonparties may file amicus curiae (%u201cfriend of the court%u201d) briefs to try to influence the Court%u2019s holding. Court clerks will assist the justices in reviewing these briefs. The case is then scheduled for oral argument before the assembled justices, during which each side gets a fixed amount of time (typically half an hour) to present.Supreme Court justices often interrupt and question the lawyers as they present their arguments, and some justices tend to ask more questions than others. Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom during oral arguments, although sketch artists and audio recordings are allowed.After oral argument, the case proceeds to judicial conference, in which the justices meet and vote in secret. Not even their clerks are present. The process can take months, and individual justices can change their votes during this phase.Finally, the Court issues its decision, which is the determination of which side won. In addition to the Court%u2019s decision in a case, justices write opinions that explain their reasoning. The majority opinion lays out the legal reasoning behind the decision of the majority of the justices who prevailed in the case. Under its appellate jurisdiction, the Court may affirm, reverse, or remand the case back to a lower court.68 The decision and the majority opinion are binding and serve as precedent to guide lower courts in handling similar cases. The chief justice, when in the majority, selects the author of the majority opinion (or writes it themself). If the chief justice is not in the majority, the most senior member of the majority writes the majority opinion. If there is no majority, which typically occurs when many justices disagree on the logic behind a ruling, then a plurality opinion will be written that expresses the views of the largest number of justices who voted together.A justice voting with the majority may also write a concurring opinion. Concurrences are more common when a justice has some differences in logic or reasoning with the other members of the majority but not enough to cause that justice to support the other side. A justice who voted with the minority may write a dissenting opinion. Concurring and dissenting opinions do not serve as precedent and do not carry the weight of the Court behind them. However, if a future Court should revisit precedent due to an ideological shift in the composition of the Court, a dissent may provide a useful record and analysis of why at least one justice thought the Court got it wrong the first time.majority opiniona binding Supreme Court opinion, which serves as precedent for future cases.concurring opinionan opinion that agrees with the majority decision but offers different or additional reasoning that does not serve as precedent.dissenting opinionan opinion that disagrees with the majority opinion and does not serve as precedent.This sketch shows the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments in 2021 for the first time following the COVID pandemic. Sometimes, justices ask the hardest questions of the side they agree with. Why would justices ask hard questions, even though they have read the briefs and know what each side will likely argue?Bill Hennessy%u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.