Hello everyone! So I went to the Supreme Court this week and was able to see two oral arguments presented for two cases. As you all can imagine I was super excited. My friend Nicole and I stood out in the cold for an hour and a half to get inside the building. As usual I forgot my hat, scarf and gloves in my rush to get out the door but, it was so worth the wait! Nicole and I were very fortunate to get inside because they cut the acceptance line off for the first case two people after us. While our friend David who arrived later had to wait and extra half hour to get into the second court case. After going through our first round of security to get inside the building we placed our coats and everything but our notebooks and a pen in a locker because they are not admitted into the courtroom. Once we placed our coats and bags in a locker we had to go through another security check to make sure we were only bringing in paper and a pen. This unfortunately made it so I could not take any pictures inside the court room. The first court case was about gun laws. The main issue was if you are apart of a crime where a gun is used but you do not know that a gun was meaning to be used should you still be charged for the gun crime. We have been discussing gun laws in class and with all of the shootings that are currently occuring it seemed to be very appropriate to attend. The second court case concerned drugs and if an addict dies of an overdose is the drug dealer responsible for there death. It was so amazing to see these lawyers argue in front of the Justices. Who were by no means holding back in there line of questioning. They asked serious questions that would have made me cringe if I was the lawyer at the podium. I think the scariest one was in the second court case when the Judge asked why the lawyer refused to reference the experts in his court case and kept on using hypothetical experts. The same Justice also asked why they were using a law school hypothetical to try and support there case. It was also great to watch the Justices on the bench. There was one appeared to be falling asleep, while another had his head in his hands, some were taking notes, or fighting to ask questions. It was amazing to see them all interacting with one another. We watched a movie after court giving an over view of the Supreme Court which showed the Justices giving there opinion on certain aspects of there job which added to the experiance of seeing them in court. I made several observations while I was at the Supreme Court. 1) They arguments involved masses of hypothetical arguments 2) You need to be on the top of your game when you argue at the Supreme Court 3) The building was very grand to fit the weight of the cases considered there 4) The Justices are brazen and do not walk on eggshells
2 Comments
Robin Curran
11/17/2013 10:42:24 am
That's so exciting that you got to go to the Supreme Court! Good thing that you made the cut off you so you didn't have to wait even longer in the cold.
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Naomi Mekeel
11/18/2013 11:52:51 am
I would have loved observing the Justices, too. I can't believe one was falling asleep! Crazy. This is an awesome experience to add to your DC adventure book. Good for you for sticking it out in the cold to wait in line! Did watching them make you want to argue in the Supreme Court someday?
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AuthorMy name is Shannon McCullough. I have Political Science and Legal Studies degree at Nazareth College of Rochester. I have previously interned at the Office of the Attorney General for DC. Currently, I am studying my Masters degree in International Relations at Shandong University in Jinan, China. Archives
September 2016
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