Fix the Court executive director Gabe Roth released this statement following word that the Supreme Court has denied the organization’s request – bolstered by a petition signed by more than 1,000 Americans from all 50 states – for expedited oral argument audio in its two cases next Wednesday:

Of course we are frustrated with the court’s refusal to grant same-day audio for its Jan. 18 cases, especially since the first case of the day features a litigant from the other side of the country, and the second one includes many from the other side of the world.

But it’s not only that. The idea that a public institution with the technology – which costs nothing, by the way – to be more open but refuses to act in accordance with modern customs in government transparency is obnoxious. I wish there were a better term for it, but there isn’t.