The Oyez Project and Chicago-Kent release OyezToday

The Oyez Project has joined with IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law to launch OyezToday, a new iPhone app full of information and media related to the current U.S. Supreme Court docket. OyezToday is free and available through the App Store. iPad and Android phone versions will soon follow.

OyezToday users will be able to read today's opinions in Astra USA v. Santa Clara County or Connick v. Thompson or listen to oral arguments in the cases. They can search key segments or share their impressions on Facebook or Twitter.

"OyezToday will appeal to all Supreme Court junkies," said Jerry Goldman, director of the Oyez Project at Chicago-Kent. "Opinions will be available on their smart phones shortly after they are released. Oral arguments and transcripts are a mere tap away within hours of release by the Court. In addition, users can share their interests via Facebook, Twitter, and email," he continued. "Users can download argument audio synchronized to its transcript and search the audio. Or, they can simply flip, tap, and listen to any portion."

OyezToday rests on the popular Oyez Project, an authoritative collection of Supreme Court audio going back to October 1955. With 10,000 hours of audio in the archive, users needed ways to search the trove. OyezToday allows easy focus on the current docket and frees users from their desktop computers by allowing them access and granularity anywhere. A wireless link is necessary to download the media.

In the last 12 months, Oyez has been visited nearly 7 million times by 3.6 million unique visitors who accessed 26 million page-views of content and downloaded more than 10 terabytes of data. The average user spent nearly six minutes reading or listening to nearly four pages of content.

"Given this enormous interest in the Supreme Court," observed Goldman, "It only makes sense to bring this rich content to smart devices like the iPhone, Android-based phones, and the iPad since this is where an increasing share of the public consumes information."

"OyezToday provides everything those who follow the U.S. Supreme Court might wish for in one app. Chicago-Kent is proud to provide this free service to enhance the public's understanding of the Court and current legal controversies," said Dean Harold J. Krent.

OyezToday at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law provides easy-to-grasp abstracts for every U.S. Supreme Court case granted review, timely and searchable audio of oral arguments and transcripts, and up-to-date summaries of the Court's most recent decisions, including full opinions. Recordings of opinion announcements from the bench will follow when the Court releases those audio files to the National Archives at the start of the Court's next term.

"The engineering in this app is powerful, yet simple. We worked with a clever group of software engineers from Messina, Italy, who have understood mobile devices far longer than most of us. We are also grateful to Chicago-Kent for its generous support," said Goldman.

Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. With more than 1,100 students, Chicago-Kent offers full-time and part-time J.D. and LL.M. degree programs as well as joint-degree programs with other IIT units, including Stuart School of Business.