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FILE - Chief Justice Earl Warren speaks at the Washington National Archives during a ceremony marking the 175th anniversary of congressional passage of legislation establishing the federal judicial system in the U.S., on Sept. 22, 1964. Seventy years ago, no one outside of the U.S. Supreme Court building heard it when Warren announced the historic Brown vs. Board of Education decision on school desegregation. Now, through the use of a voice-cloning technology, it is becoming possible for people to “hear” Warren read the decision as he did on May 17, 1954, along with oral arguments by lawyers. (AP Photo/Bill Allen, File)

Voice-cloning technology bringing a key Supreme Court moment to 'life'

The use of a voice-cloning technology marrying old audio clips to an actor's narration is bringing an historic U.S. Supreme Court decision to life

By David Bauder
Published - May 15, 2024, 06:08 AM ET
Last Updated - May 27, 2024, 12:56 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Seventy years ago on Friday, no one outside of the U.S. Supreme Court building heard it when Chief Justice Earl Warren announced the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision on school desegregation.

Now, through the use of an innovative voice-cloning technology, it is becoming possible for people to “hear” Warren read the decision as he did on May 17, 1954, along with oral arguments by lawyers including a future Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall.

The “Brown Revisited” recreation should be made available by Friday at brown.oyez.org a website that has been the dream of former Northwestern University professor Jerry Goldman. Goldman has painstakingly put together the site allowing people to hear oral arguments in decades worth of Supreme Court cases, and follow along with written transcriptions. Yet it always frustrated Goldman that the court did not begin recording oral arguments until 1955 — a year after the Brown decision was handed down. Print transcripts just aren't the same.

“I could give you the libretto to ‘Madame Butterfly,’" he said. “But would you rather read it, or would you rather sit and listen to the performance?”

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