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Oral arguments in front of SCOTUS are surprisingly quick and short. I was able to go and sit in the "audience" one day back in 2013, and it took only about an h

Oral arguments in front of SCOTUS are surprisingly quick and short. I was able to go and sit in the "audience" one day back in 2013, and it took only about an hour for each case (got to see 2 of them). The point of the oral arguments (at least for the cases I saw) was for the justices to essentially ask clarifying questions to help make up their minds. They had already thoroughly reviewed the case documents, amicus curae briefs, etc.

segfaultbuserr 7y ago
How do one become an audience of a Supreme Court (or federal courts) trial in the U.S?
- gizmo686 7y ago
  Stand in line. Oral arguements are open to the public, and available on a first come first serve basis. Generally speaking, court proceeding in the US are open to the public unless the proceeding has been specifically closed to the public.
- evanb 7y ago
  Get up early and get in line at the court early. The calendar is available https://www.supremecourt.gov/ https://www.supremecourt.gov/
- dave5104 7y ago
  As others have said, you'll need to stand in line. I recommend going in a warmer month if you can. When I was there, it was March 2013, and it snowed/sleeted the morning of. Luckily, at one point they handed out paper tickets designating your place in line and at that point you could go to the closest cafe to warm up. Also, at the time, they only allowed the first 50 people in line to be able to sit in the audience to view the entirety of the oral arguments. No idea if it's still the same 6 years later or not. If you were in spot 51+, you had the opportunity to join a rotating group of audience members who would get to enter the court room and view about 10-15 minutes of arguments, before being escorted back out and replaced with another group.
- colejohnson66 7y ago
  In addition to standing in line, you need to get up really early. IIRC, you probably want to arrive before 5 AM.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

segfaultbuserr 7y ago

How do one become an audience of a Supreme Court (or federal courts) trial in the U.S?

gizmo686 7y ago
Stand in line. Oral arguements are open to the public, and available on a first come first serve basis. Generally speaking, court proceeding in the US are open to the public unless the proceeding has been specifically closed to the public.
evanb 7y ago
Get up early and get in line at the court early. The calendar is available https://www.supremecourt.gov/ https://www.supremecourt.gov/
dave5104 7y ago
As others have said, you'll need to stand in line. I recommend going in a warmer month if you can. When I was there, it was March 2013, and it snowed/sleeted the morning of. Luckily, at one point they handed out paper tickets designating your place in line and at that point you could go to the closest cafe to warm up. Also, at the time, they only allowed the first 50 people in line to be able to sit in the audience to view the entirety of the oral arguments. No idea if it's still the same 6 years later or not. If you were in spot 51+, you had the opportunity to join a rotating group of audience members who would get to enter the court room and view about 10-15 minutes of arguments, before being escorted back out and replaced with another group.
colejohnson66 7y ago
In addition to standing in line, you need to get up really early. IIRC, you probably want to arrive before 5 AM.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]