Order in the Court

As a reporter, covering a case at the U.S. Supreme is one of the cooler assignments you can have in Washington, D.C., but it is certainly a throwback to the past.

In other words, no Tweeting, no live blogging, no internet, no Facebook status updates, just a reporter and his or her pen and notebook.

Here were the reminders sent out by the Supreme Court to reporters:

• NO electronics devices. (i.e., cell phones, computers, tablets, recorders, etc..)  If you bring them with you to the Courtroom, you will be asked to return to the pressroom and may risk losing your seat.  Devices may be left in designated cubbyholes adjacent to the pressroom door.
• Note taking only material is allowed in the Courtroom (i.e., pen & pad).
• NO coats, briefcases, backpacks, or other personal belongings are allowed in the Courtroom.  Please leave them on the coatracks in the pressroom.
• The dress code in the press section is business attire (coat and tie required for men).
• Once you are seated in the Courtroom, you are there for the duration of the oral argument.  You may not leave the Courtroom and return later.
• The press section is filled to capacity.  To maintain order and to keep distractions to a minimum, please sit in the seat you were assigned.  No standing is allowed.

When you cover a major case ike the Obama health law, the big shot reporters who cover the Court on a regular basis get the prime seats in the courtroom. The rest of us (and I'm not complaining, mind you) fill a series of small chairs that have an obstructed view of the proceedings.

That's where I was during Bush v Gore in 2000, sitting behind a large marble pillar. I could see the far right side of the bench, getting a glimpse of two or three justices, as well as the lawyers making the arguments.

To help the reporters along the side, there is a Court employee who indicates who is speaking, often by flashing a certain number of fingers which correlate to a certain justice on a card given to reporters - sort of like a program at a baseball game.

1 - Chief Justice Roberts
2 - Justice Scalia
3 - Justice Kennedy
4 - Justice Thomas
5 - Justice Ginsberg
6 - Justice Breyer
7 - Justice Alito
8 - Justice Sotomayor
9 - Justice Kagan

And here is how the Justices are arranged on the bench from left to right on your radio dial:

After a little while, you start to recognize the voices - but there is usually one who doesn't speak, and that's Justice Clarence Thomas. Is the last time that Thomas asked a question during a Supreme Court argument session really back in 2006?

While Thomas speaks the least of any of the current members of the bench, Justice Scalia is most frequently heard.