I’m a bit of a history geek, so allow me to share an experience I had this morning that was on my unofficial “bucket list”:
- Hear oral arguments in a case at the U.S. Supreme Court
I’m in Washington, D.C. for my day job, and through some connections I got a chance to visit the Supreme Court for the second time in the last three years. But this time, the court was in session. And I was given a pass to sit in the seats in the historic courtroom that are reserved for family and associates of the justices.
Very cool.
Mind you, I would be happy just sitting in the so-called cheap seats in the back of the courtroom. But to be able to sit a little closer, to the right of the justices as you’d look toward the front of the room, was indeed very cool.
Remember, you’re dealing with a history geek here.
At 10 a.m., when the justices came out from behind the curtain up front to take their seats, it was like watching nine rock stars about to put on a show. I scanned them as they sat from left to right, Breyer, Thomas, Kennedy, Stevens, Roberts, Scalia, Souter, Ginsburg and Alito
All right there in front of me.
I couldn’t help but take in the significance of what I was watching, thinking back to when I first learned about the court in elementary school, thinking in terms of what the work that goes on in that room means to our country. They meet in that courtroom, for several months of the year, while the rest of us go about our days without giving the court a second thought.
As I watched the proceedings get underway I also thought about what must have been going through the minds of the three attorneys who were about to present their arguments. I don’t know if any of them had been up front for that rare opportunity before, even if they had, they must have been on edge, anticipating what could happen and what questions they could get from the justices.
The first lawyer didn’t have to wait long. He was maybe 10 seconds into his statement when Justice Scalia posed a question that put him on the spot.
As the case was laid out the questions kept coming, eventually from all justices, except Thomas. I’m certainly not a lawyer or a legal expert but the case at hand dealt with an age discrimination issue and the questions from the justices were intelligent, thoughtful and impressive. They challenged the attorneys constantly, and again that must be the most nerve-racking experience a lawyer will ever have in his or her career. But the justices want to, and need to, get at the heart of the true legal issue to see if there’s enough there to ultimately make a decision that could impact many other cases. And they don’t have much time to do it. Just an hour for the oral arguments.
A couple things stand out from a communications standpoint that I want to point out, since that’s what my career is based on. First, each justice clearly has a unique communication style and the way they ask a question. But some say more with their body language and posture than they do with their words.
Secondly, there are moments of levity in the courtroom, at least there were this morning. One of the attorneys said “Ginsburg” instead of “O’Connor” when referring to a decision involving the retired justice. That of course gave Ginsburg a chance to correct him and he said “I’m going to hear about this one,” which drew laughter throughout the room. That same attorney also said “Ginsburg” when he meant “Breyer” a few minutes later, prompting a few more smiles on the bench.
The justices also look for other one-liner opportunities to show their sense of humor. Souter made a reference to “juries being smarter than judges” at one point. And, Breyer quipped to an attorney during one exchange, “I didn’t want to complicate it, but that may work in your favor to complicate it, and I want to be fair.”
I was truly in awe of the chance to be in the courtroom this morning. I hope the people who work in the court or work for the justices feel the same way, every day, because it’s something I will never forget.
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