Today I got to see the inside of Supreme Court of the United States. Although I've lived in the DC area for about 20 years now, and went to law school about 6 blocks away, I never actually went INSIDE the place. This morning a group of alumni from Georgetown Law Center were led through the "Bar Members" entrance, through security, and to a waiting area to eventually be brought before the Justices to be sworn into the Supreme Court Bar.
Like everything else with the law, it's all about the protocol. In order to become a member of any of the state bars and practice law in that state, one must either pass the bar exam or waive in (by passing a reciprocal state's bar exam...and not all states allow for waiving in) then hop through the hoops which usually require appearing in a group to be sworn in. Today makes my third swearing in ceremony, and obviously the most impressive.
The building itself is utterly amazing, and interestingly enough, filled with Pagan symbolism. From the statue of the Three Fates weaving the thread of life outside, to the elementals of earth, air, fire and water on the flagpole bases outside, to the Goddess Liberty over the entrance, there are many interesting sculptures and frescos depicting ancient scenes and semi-religious interpretations. Inside the room where we were waiting hung two enormous chandeliers, each with five pointed stars hanging at the bottom. Ironic that this is the same symbol we would like for the headstones of fallen Wiccan soldiers. The ornamentation of the rooms was rather awesome, with fine woodwork, inlaid beautiful flooring, and beautiful ceilings with gold colored floral medallions and beautifully intricate painted designs all around.
The main courtroom was smaller than I'd expected, with enormous marble pillars, irreplaceable woodwork, and carved marble dental molding. We sat in wooden chairs in front of the gallery, all 150 or so of us from different law schools, and listened to the marshals telling everyone to be silent before the arrival of the Justices. At precisely 10, the Court was in session, and the 9 members ascended the platform to their high backed leather chairs. It was amazing to see how small they looked in relation to the room, and to the office they held.
Chief Justice Roberts announced the opening of the Court's business for the day, and we listened to the Justices read their opinions and dissents in two important cases. The first case read was a splintered court regarding wetlands regulations. Unfortunately, by a 5-4 decision, a plurality decided that the federal government doesn't have the authority to regulate certain wetlands, as Justice Scalia recited through rather twisted reasoning, that the "waters of the United States" aren't really all of the waters of the United States unless they are directly connected to waterways. This basically paves the way for those who want to fill in wetlands to destroy habitats if, for example, it's a pond. We see both of Dubya's appointees joining the majority in this anti-environment opinion. 5 of the 9 Justices wrote opinions on this case.
The next case involved what type of evidence is allowed in cases where the victim does not testify. The Court decided that testimonial evidence from the victim may not be admitted if the victim does not testify, as that violates the defendant's right to confront his/her accuser. However, other testimony, such as a 911 call is not testimonial, as it is what is happening right then, and may be admitted.
After these cases were read, it was time for admissions motions. After some individuals were moved and admitted, our law school Dean stood up to ask for our admission, and we stood as each name was read out to the Justices. The motion was granted, and we sat down. Three more groups were admitted in the same manner, then we all stood and were administered the oath to practice before the Supreme Court.
Pictures will be up soon.