WASHINGTON – 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 seating at the courtdirectly behind the lawyers arguingor 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.
