The Supreme Court

On Wednesday we got to tour the Supreme Court, also known as the Marble Palace. When we first walked in we got to see the official portraits of all the Justices as well as the statute of John Marshall, the Great Chief Justice. We then went off on our tours. My group started with a tour of the Supreme Court’s library which we learned has to house every book that a Justice cited in an opinion. The Court only uses paper copies and there are no electronics allowed in the Courtroom; and because the internet sources can change constantly, all citations have to be made by a physical book. We learned that the Supreme Court’s library even housed a comic book after Justice O’Connor cited from one in an opinion saying “with great power comes great responsibility”. We then made our way to the actual Courtroom where we sat down in the chairs designated for the Justices’ guests. We learned of the seating arrangements which are done by seniority. The part that was most surreal, however, was that our tour guide let us stand at the podium where lawyers deliver their oral arguments. They are only a couple of feet away from the Justices, and just standing there without the Justices was intimidating so I can imagine how it must feel for a first-time litigator. Just standing at that podium was incredible.

After the tour, we made our way into the Rehnquist dining room where we had the opportunity to meet and chat with the Clerk of the Court. He provided us with a lot of insight into the intricacies of the Supreme Court, as well as, the customs and traditions the Court upholds. For example, Justices always send memorandums to the Conference where they ask to join the opinions of other Justices. We also learned that there have been changes because of COVID to the Court’s traditions. Prior to COVID, each lawyer got thirty minutes to deliver their arguments and answer the Justices’ questions. However, after COVID, the new rule is not only thirty-minute arguments but the Justices also get to ask as many questions as they would like after the allotted time.

Sculpture of John Marshall by William Wetmore Story

After our tour and work in the Madison Reading Room, we headed to Bullfeathers for dinner which is a Teddy Roosevelt-themed restaurant. I think the dinners and conversations during these were one of my favorite parts of the trip. We would all sit down together and start talking about all the interesting things we had learned through the Justices’ papers. Tyler, for example, told us about a memo where a law clerk described Justice Scalia’s memos as “ninograms”. Since we all had different topics we were researching, hearing about the different findings from my peers was very interesting.

Finally, we headed back to the luxurious Comfort Inn – Ballston where after having some time to relax we decided to head down and play Secret Hitler. I had never played before but it was one of the most fun board games I have played. Though the fascists and liberals in the game would constantly change it was fun playing with Professor Kobylka who had always managed to be a liberal except for one time. Apart from the actual research, the dinners and Secret Hitler were definitely my favorite parts of the trip.