I, along with Corey and Mili, got to the Court around 4:30. I parked at the Union Station garage. At 4:30, we were #6 on the line. The line was much easier today, as there was a nice breeze and it wasn’t too humid. A lot of the same people who waited last week.
There were a couple of jerks who cut in the line. The Supreme Court Police (not security guards!?!) were totally uninterested in helping. Beyond shaming the line-cutters, there is nothing to do. Fortunately, everyone who got there early got in (I’m not sure about people who attended later).
We were let in around 7:30 (when the SCOTUS cafeteria opened), and were let up around 9:15.
Nino was beyond vitriolic. I swear, he was giving a stump speech at a Tea Party.
Alito’s dissent read from the bench was very, very powerful.
The Chief looked really tired, and his usual boyish glow was not there. I have no idea what that means.
Today was Justice Sotomayor’s birthday. No one brought any cake to the Court.
After the Court gavelled out, I played it cool, and followed Mike Sacks into the Supreme Court press room. No, I don’t have credentials. No one checked. It was bustling! In an odd twist, the Court’s Public Information Office handed out a copy of Scalia’s statement from the bench. That is what Scalia read from the bench, not his dissenting opinion. I’m not sure if that is tradition. But I can only presume he wanted the media to report from his statement.
On my way out, I saw Tom Goldstein, Kevin Russell, and two others from the SCOTUSBlog Team blogging in the cafeteria. (I always wondered where Tom sat). Tom told me that 100,000 people had been on his site. He told me he missed my blog.
I told him that I would be returning to the blogosphere soon, and he said he would look for its return.
On my way out I saw live broadcasts from Jeff Toobin, Pete Wilson (who stands on box), and some guy holding up an “Overturn Wickard v. Filburn” sign.