STEVE INSKEEP, host:
In all of its articles and amendments, the Constitution does not specifically authorize Supreme Court justices to tell jokes on the bench.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
But it doesn't forbid humor either, and some justices have apparently taken a generous reading of our founding law.
INSKEEP: In case after case, the justices hold oral arguments, sparring with lawyers and with each other, and Ryan Malphurs studied those arguments in search of witty remarks.
MONTAGNE: He published his findings as a dissertation at Texas A and M.
Mr. RYAN MALPHURS (Attorney): The name the study is "People Did Sometimes Stick Things Down My Underwear."
INSKEEP: That title comes from an actual remark by Justice Stephen Breyer in 2009. The court was hearing arguments in a case where a teenage girl was strip-searched for drugs. Justice Breyer was attempting to understand the circumstances of the search and his comments did not come out quite right.
Justice STEPHEN BREYER (U.S. Supreme Court): You know, we did take off our clothes once a day - we changed for gym. OK? And in my experience too, people did sometimes stick things in my underwear. Well, not my underwear.
(Soundbite of laughter)
MONTAGNE: Malphurs studied all of the notations of laughter that were entered into the court record during the 2006-2007 term.
Mr. MALPHURS: They're very quick-witted and they enjoy the intellectual quip occasionally.
INSKEEP: Occasionally. He found 131 instances in which laughter followed a comment from the bench.
MONTAGNE: Some were unintentional. Before becoming a justice, Elena Kagan appeared before the court and mistakenly called Antonin Scalia Mr. Chief Justice. The real chief justice, John Roberts, responded.
Justice ELENA KAGAN (U.S. Supreme Court): Mr. Chief - excuse me, Justice Scalia, I didn't mean to promote you quite so quickly.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Justice JOHN ROBERTS (Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court): Thanks for thinking it was a promotion.
INSKEEP: According to the dissertation, Justice Scalia cracked the most jokes. Let's hear an exchange from 2005 in which a light bulb in the courtroom blew out. First, you're going to hear Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and then Justices Scalia and Roberts.
Justice RUTH BADER GINSBURG (U.S. Supreme Court): And it's only fair that your adversary should be able to...
(Soundbite of noise)
Justice ANTONIN SCALIA (U.S. Supreme Court): Light bulb went out.
Justice ROBERTS: It's a trick they play on new chief justices all the time.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Justice SCALIA: Happy Halloween.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Justice GINSBURG: That's the idea.
Justice ROBERTS: Take your time.
Justice SCALIA: We're even more in the dark now than before.
(Soundbite of laughter)
MONTAGNE: Supreme Court humor from which there is no appeal.
INSKEEP: Ryan Malphurs' study in the current issue of the Communication Law Review. It's based on his dissertation.
(Soundbite of music)
INSKEEP: This is NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.