All scheduled oral arguments for the term will be heard by the Court there. The Supreme Court Bar, the press, and the general public will all have seats for the oral argument sessions. The three-minute line has been put on hold. On days when the Court is in session, the Supreme Court Building won’t be open to the public.
The building will be accessible to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on days when the Court is not in session, except weekends and federal holidays. The availability of courtroom lectures is first-come, first-served. Please check the 30-day rolling calendar to see which lectures are available. Self-guided tours of the first floor’s exhibitions and the bottom floor’s exhibits are available to visitors. The public is welcome to visit the cafeteria and gift shop.
Every year, the Court hears oral arguments in around 70–80 cases. The Justices can directly question the lawyers defending the parties to the case throughout the arguments, and the lawyers can draw attention to any points they believe to be particularly crucial. Beginning on the first Monday in October and continuing until the end of April, arguments are often scheduled on specific Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings. The Court typically hears two arguments per day, each lasting an hour, commencing at 10:00 a.m. The Court’s annual calendar lists the days that arguments are held. The precise cases that will be discussed each day, as well as the attorneys who will discuss them,
both on the day of the call for each argument session and on the hearing lists for each session. Public seating in the courtroom is offered on a first-come, first-seated basis.
The Court publishes transcripts of the day’s arguments in the afternoon of each argument. The Court also makes the audio of the week’s arguments available on Fridays of argument weeks.