OCTOBER 8, 1935-Court’s First Day in Shiny New Building Proves Very Dull
First exclusive picture in new Supreme Court building including members of the United States Supreme Court Advisory Committee. Photo by Harris and Ewing, 1935, Library of Congress.
THE WASHINGTON DAILY NEWS — TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1935
Court’s First Day in Shiny New Building Proves Very Dull
By ERNIE PYLE
The opening session of the Supreme Court in its new $11,000,000 bungalow was, I reckon, about as flat a ceremony as Washington has seen in a long time.
Of course, you don’t expect confetti and pop bottles at a Supreme Court opening, but you do expect some rather staggering displays of pomp, and a huff-huff or two of dignity.
Instead, the whole thing sort of dragged.
By 10 a.m. the court chamber was filled with privileged personalities, many stood around the walls, and a long velvet rope outside the chamber held back the curious mob of rude common people.
The lucky 300 in the court room just sat there from 10 till 12. There were quite a few in formal morning clothes, but more that weren’t. Some defied tradition and wore light-colored suits. I defied both tradition and good taste and wore my white and brown checkered race track coat, with the green sweater and the gray pants. Not a single justice even looked at me.
At exactly 12 noon, the crier got up and said the court was in session. Then the great red drapes behind the long bench were drawn in three places, and out popped the black-robed justices, so fast you could hardly tell which was which. They went to their seats and sat down. Everything was very quiet. Everybody felt like applauding, but nobody did.
Mr. Chief Justice Hughes, right off the bat, wanted to know if there was anybody who would like to be admitted to the Supreme Court bar. It seems there was, so the clerk got up and called a name. A man walked out of the audience to the front, and another man introduced him to the court.
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To get admission to the Supreme Court bar, you must have practiced three years before the Supreme Court of your state. Each applicant has to be introduced by a lawyer already admitted to practice before the court. The two of them stand up before the court, and the introducer says:
“May it please the court, I desire to move the admission of Joe Smoke, who has been a member of the bar of the highest court of the state of New York for more than three years last past” (that “last past” business kept getting in my hair) “in good standing. I have known him for seven years, and I vouch for him. I have examined his papers, on file in the clerk’s office, and I find them in good order.”
Each introducer said it exactly that way, or rather he was supposed to say it that way. But about half of them forgot to put in “the bar,” and introduced their friends as “members of the highest court in New York State,” which I think annoyed the justices a little, but they didn’t say anything.
After the introduction, Justice Hughes would say: “Mr. Smoke, you may pass to the clerk’s desk and take the oath.”
Whereupon the lawyer would bow, and join the waiting group at the clerk’s desk. When they had a batch of about 30, the clerk would swear them in to get rid of them, because there wasn’t room for any more. Then they’d start on a new batch.
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Some of the lawyers being admitted looked awfully proud, and some had stage fright, and one, a handsome girl introduced by former War Secretary Pat Hurley, kept expecting a curtain call, and seemed on the verge of bursting into song.
A good part of the lawyers sworn in were from Washington and New York. The attorney general of Wisconsin was admitted. Others were from California and Florida. About a dozen women were in the group of over 100.
This repetitious thing went on for an hour and a half. After the first 50 the audience began shuffling out. The justices took it pretty calmly, although a couple of them did some fidgeting, and some wrote notes to each other. Justice McReynolds, scooted way down in his chair, with his chin on his hand and his finger up alongside his nose, practically stared the new gold-leaf frescoes off the ceiling.
Finally it was over, and Justice Hughes said the court would adjourn till next Monday, whereupon everybody got up and eagerly walked out.
A couple of minutes later I saw Justice Butler down in the cafeteria, in regular clothes, eating a sandwich, with the rest of us mugs.
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