In this crazy political environment, many people are worried about the new president and who he may appoint to the Supreme Court.  Instead of listening to the media and worrying, I’d suggest visiting it in Washington to see how the Supreme Court works.

Most tourists visit the capitol and and the White House.  Very few stop at the Supreme Court.  (It sits across the street from the capitol)  So, if nothing else, it won’t be crowded and is worth the time to tour it.  Here’s what impressed me about my recent visit:

1. Constructed in the 1930’s, the present building is almost identical to the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.  It’s the same shape with columns in front of a wide series of marble steps that lead inside.  Once inside, it resembles the Parthenon also with a long, rectangular room and more columns along the sides.  Everything is made of bright white marble.
2. Instead of leading to the statue of a Greek god, the hallway leads to a small courtroom.  There’s an audience area facing a semi-circle of judicial seats—nine of them.  Other than a few offices and conference rooms, that’s all there is to the court.
3. Justices are appointed for life without any mandatory retirement age.  Hopefully, this gives each of them independence from political and social influences.  Often, after sitting on the court, a justice will change his/her philosophy and rulings that are contrary to what people expected from the justice when first appointed.  (Keep this in mind when the politicians and media worry about who goes on the court)
4. There’s a short and informative film you can watch that details how the Supreme Court works.  Contrary to the public’s understanding, there is no constitutional right to have the Supreme Court decide you case.  In fact, they only hear less than 5% of the requests for judicial review.
5. Here’s how the the Supreme Court works:  each justice gets a copy of the lawyer’s brief (written arguments) prior to the public hearing in the courtroom.  After questioning the lawyers, the justices file into a beautiful wood-paneled conference room.  They are alone in there without even their clerks.  Each justice must tell the others what he is thinking about the case.  No one can respond a second time until everyone else has the opportunity to speak.
6. If it appears that a least five justices can agree, sort of, on a decision one of the justices is assigned to write the majority opinion.  The other justices may join in later or may disagree and write their own opinion.  What impressed me about how the Supreme Court works is that one justice cannot dictate to the others what the decision should be.
7. All of the justices interviewed in the film expressed how serious and important their work is—without any mention of partisan politics.

If you get to Washington D.C. a tour of the building is quick but impressive and will give you a good idea of how the Supreme Court works.