The Oyez Project is an unofficial online multimedia archive website for the Supreme Court of the United States. It was initiated by the Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-Kent College of Law and now also sponsored by Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute and Justia.
 | |
Type of site | Database |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute Justia |
| Created by | Jerry Goldman |
| URL | oyez.org |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | None |
| Current status | active |
The website has emphasis on the court's audio of oral arguments. The website "aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since [...] October 1955."[1] The website also includes biographical information of both incumbent and historical justices of the Court and advocates who have argued before the court. The project's name refers to the interjection, "Oyez", that is spoken by the Supreme Court Marshal at the beginning of each argument session. The website was founded by Jerry Goldman, a research professor of law at the Chicago-Kent College of Law at Illinois Institute of Technology.
Government and private support
editAccording to the website, the Oyez Project received technological support from National Science Foundation and grants from National Endowment for the Humanities. The project is also supported by various academic institutions such as Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, the legal web portal FindLaw, and the law firm Mayer Brown, among others.[1]
Jerry Goldman put the Oyez Project up for sale in 2016. He estimated it is "worth well over $1 million", but he hopes the buyer will not put the project behind a paywall. Harvard Law School offered to pay the project's operating costs, but not Goldman's price.[2] In July 2016, the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School and Justia joined IIT as sponsors.[3]
History
editThe Oyez Project was conceived in Chicago in the late 1980's by Jerry Goldman, a professor of political science, and initially implemented using Apple's HyperCard software. Subsequent support from the National Science Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities allowed the project to evolve and establish a presence on the internet.[4]
Recognition
editOyez.org is listed by the Supreme Court as an authentic, although unofficial, online source to access the court's information.[5]
Oyez.org was featured as "Website of the Week" by international broadcaster Voice of America in January 2006.[6]
The old version of the Oyez database was awarded the Silver Gavel Award for New Media by American Bar Association in 1998.[7] Its founder, Jerry Goldman, was given a medal award in 1997 by EDUCAUSE.[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b About Oyez Archived 2020-09-29 at the Wayback Machine Oyez.org
- ^ Bravin, Jess (1 February 2016). "Future of Oyez Supreme Court Archive Hangs in the Balance". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ^ "Oyez website finds sponsors to take over its Supreme Court audio archives". ABA Journal. Archived from the original on 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
- ^ "The History of Oyez". Oyez. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
- ^ Where to Obtain Supreme Court Opinions Archived 2020-06-19 at the Wayback Machine Supreme Court of the United States
- ^ Oyez.org Segment in Our World program 28 January 2006 Audio is at timecode 10:36, HTML transcript also available. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
- ^ Silver Gavel Awards for Media and The Arts Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine American Bar Association
- ^ educause.edu Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, EDUCAUSE Medal Awards
Further reading
edit- NPR staff (April 24, 2013). "Once under wraps, Supreme Court audio trove now online. It's all politics". Retrieved 2013-04-24.
But as of just a few weeks ago, all of the archived historical audio — which dates back to 1955 — has been digitized, and almost all of those cases can now be heard and explored at an online archive called the Oyez Project.