Back in February, Fix the Court was joined by a number of leading media and pro-transparency groups to request same-day audio for two of the year’s biggest Supreme Court cases: the March 2 hearing on abortion and the April 18 one on whether President Obama’s executive action shielding millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation is legal.

On March 1, the court denied our request, stating that it would “follow its usual practices regarding the posting of the audio,” i.e., uploading it at the end of the week, “for arguments in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt and U.S. v. Texas.”

Fix the Court executive director Gabe Roth today reiterated his disappointment in the court’s denial: “I’m discouraged that the court denied our request, as the cases for which we requested expedited audio will impact millions of Americans regardless of ideology or where in the country they live.”

“Given the likelihood of 4-4 ties in each case,” Roth added, “my hope is that the next time these and other high-profile issues reach the court it will make the proceedings more accessible to the public. Audio recordings of the justices grappling with questions of national importance should not be treated like they’re part of a Friday afternoon news dump.”

Our letter to the court on same-day audio may be found here.