Helpful information, interesting details, and fun facts.

1. The Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court
of the United Statesof the United States
helpful information,helpful information,
interesting details,interesting details,
& fun facts& fun facts

2. what cases will the court consider?
A party that wants the Supreme Court
to review a lower court’s opinion must
file a petition for certiorari (“cert
petition”) explaining why the Supreme
Court should hear the case. Each year,
the Justices and their law clerks review
anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000
cert petitions. Of these thousands,
only 80-100 (roughly 1%) are granted
and heard by the Court.

3. writing briefs
If the Supreme Court agrees to hear a case,
the parties file legal briefs outlining their arguments.
Formal rules govern every aspect of these briefs.

4. friends of the Courtfriends of the Court
The Court also often receives briefs from
amici curiae — friends of the Court.
41 briefs were filed in support of the Prop 8 proponents
(with light green covers).
54 briefs were filed in support of the City and County of San
Francisco and the couples seeking marriage licenses
(with dark green covers).
In 2003, the companion cases Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, challenging the
University of Michigan’s Affirmative Action admissions policies, generated a total of 102
amicus briefs, the most in Supreme Court history.

5. ORAL ARGUMENTORAL ARGUMENT
The nine Justices are seated by seniority on the Bench. The Chief Justice occupies the center
chair; the senior Associate Justice sits to his right, the second senior to his left, and so on,
alternating right and left by seniority. When the Justices assemble to go on the Bench
each day, each Justice shakes hands with each of the other eight as a reminder that
differences of opinion on the Court do not preclude overall harmony of purpose.

6. There are two lights onThere are two lights on
the podium:the podium:
whenwhen the white lightthe white light
goes on, the attorney hasgoes on, the attorney has
five minutesfive minutes
remaining to argue.remaining to argue.
When theWhen the
red lightred light
goes on,goes on,
time is uptime is up
At oralAt oral
argument, eachargument, each
side has onlyside has only
thirty minutesthirty minutes
to present itsto present its
case to thecase to the
Justices.Justices.

7. a ticketed event.a ticketed event.
Each Justice has a
certain number of
“tickets” that s/he
can give to friends
and family.
The remaining seats
are available to
anyone, but seating
is limited and on
a first-come,
first-seated basis.
There are two seating areas in the courtroom:
90 seats for members of the Supreme Court bar
approximately 200 seats for members of the public
In some high profile
cases, people begin
lining up for public
tickets well in
advance of the oral
argument.
In Perry, the first
person in line arrived
five days before
the argument date.

8. The highest court in the
land
Directly above the Supreme Court
courtroom is a basketball court, which is
appropriately referred to as
“the highest court in the land.”
To avoid interfering with oral arguments,
basketball is prohibited while
Court is in session.

9. Deciding the caseDeciding the case
At the end of a week in which the Court has heard oral
arguments, the Justices hold a conference to discuss the cases.
At this conference, each justice—in order from most to least
senior—states the basis on which he or she would
decide the case, and a vote is taken.
Nobody but the Justices is permitted to be present at this
meeting (not even the Justices’ law clerks), so the least senior
Justice is responsible for answering the door and taking notes
during these conferences.
If the Chief Justice is in the majority on a case decision, he
decides who will write the opinion for the Court. He may decide
to write it himself or he may assign that duty to any other
Justice in the majority.
If the Chief Justice is in the minority, the Justice in the majority
who has the most seniority assumes the assignment duty.

10. waiting game
The average time from argument to
decision is approximately 81 days81 days,,
but this number is skewed by
administrative decisions that may take
only a few days.
No one knows exactly when a decision
will be handed down by the Court in an
argued case, nor is there a set time period
in which the Justices must reach a
decision.
However, all cases argued during a term
of Court are decided before the summer
recess begins, usually by the end of June.