Inside the U.S. Supreme Court building on March 26 and 27, the issue of standing loomed large in the historic arguments over same-sex marriage. Since then, another, far more literal, standing issue has been a hot topic among high court advocates.
It involves the wait in line for seats inside the court for high-profile arguments. Veteran court litigators were mortified to see paid line-sitters (or standers) dominating the queue reserved for members of the Supreme Court bar. That line leads to exclusive access to close-in seating at the court directly behind the lawyers arguing or else overflow seats in the nearby lawyers’ lounge. A few hours before the historic arguments began, the real lawyers slipped into the spaces held by the line-sitters.
