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John Oliver mocks Supreme Court’s camera ban with cute animals

“If it works for sh*tty piano music, it can work for the Supreme Court.”

 

Michelle Jaworski

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Posted on Oct 20, 2014   Updated on May 30, 2021, 9:17 am CDT

The Supreme Court is surely going to the dogs—at least if John Oliver has anything to say about it.

In Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight, Oliver took on the Supreme Court for its archaic practice of banning cameras in the court chamber. The Court does release audio of its proceedings, which TV newscasts usually pair with painted scenes of oral arguments. While it works, the portraits don’t do the Justices justice.

Oliver’s remedy might have taken a long time to put together, but we think you’ll agree that it was so, so worth it: Last Week Tonight provides stock footage of dogs dressed as the Supreme Court justices and TV news stations can add the audio.

Oliver only needed a few scenes to completely justify the bit, but he did one better: He released all of the footage online to allow anyone to recreate major court cases. The Internet has already gone to work. Meanwhile, the rest of us can enjoy nearly 11 minutes of pure, unedited SCOTUS dogs. That Sam Alito in particular is one to watch.

Image via Last Week Tonight with John Oliver/YouTube

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*First Published: Oct 20, 2014, 9:48 am CDT