John Oliver finds a brilliant solution to the Supreme Court's frustrating camera ban: Dogs

(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

last updated 8 January 2015

The Supreme Court's current term, which started earlier this month, is "going to be one to watch," said John Oliver on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. "Unfortunately, we won't actually be able to watch any of it," because the court bans cameras in the courtroom during oral arguments.

The current solution — audio of the arguments over drawings of the justices — is boring, Oliver said. So "this week, we spent an incredible amount of time, and an almost immoral amount of resources, to produce an entire Supreme Court featuring real animals with fake paws." Oliver aired some teasers of Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito speaking over clips of delightful canine avatars.

"Those dry constitutional arguments are now must-see television," he said. And he's right — it's good television. But it's only the start. Last Week Tonight also posted 10 minutes of silent footage of the fully robed dogs online, and Oliver said that if news organizations don't use it to recreate every oral argument so far by next week, he's staying off the air. That's unlikely, but I hope somebody takes him up on his offer anyway — Supreme Court banter really has never been so entertaining. --Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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