“Let me correct some things that Mr. Frederick said that were not true.” That was as close as a Supreme Court lawyer comes to calling her adversary a liar. The speaker was Kathleen Sullivan, a formidable advocate and former dean of Stanford Law School, challenging David Frederick, just as impressive and well credentialed, at the court last week.

If you were lucky, you attended the feisty argument. Otherwise, you had to wait until Friday when the audio recording was released. The Supreme Court leapt forward this term by deciding to release recordings at the end of each argument week — rather than waiting until the next year’s term. Americans would be even better served if they could listen the same day, while arguments and coverage are fresh. The court has occasionally done so, and we can’t explain why it can’t happen every time.