May 24, 2005
Trip, Updated ::
travel — tagged SCOTUS, travel and washington dc
10:55 am
In addition to the post below, I wanted to send an update on my trip. Sarah and I went to downtown Washington for some tourist-y stops. First, was the Supreme Court. Although we didn’t get in to hear the opinions released, we did spend some time in line, which gave us an interesting idea of the dynamics of the Court. There were, of course, the pro life demonstrators, the student group, and the press; someone also decided—not sure if it was security or Justice Rehnquist—that only the first 20-30 people were going to get in to hear arguments. Which makes a little sense, I suppose: at this point in the term when the Court wants to announce opinions and get on with their day, allowing 45 middle and high school kids in to the courtroom would probably cause an unreasonable delay.
[Side note, for legal buffs: luckily, the opinions released yesterday were pretty dull. Though there was a development in the Medellin case, which SCOTUSBlog covers effectively. There was also an opinion on shackling capital murder defendants during the sentencing phase of their trial. Seven Justices said you can’t do it, while two (Thomas and Scalia) would have decided that such an action was constitutionally acceptable.]
After that, we went to the National Gallery (mostly by accident), where we saw an albino squirrel and a really imressive rotunda. Then to the National Archives, through the sculpture garden, onto the Metro, and out to lunch with Rick. I also met Jessamyn there.
Afterward, Jessamyn and strolled around DuPont Circle, got some coffee and played a game of dots. She then headed out to Virginia, and I back home. Overall, quite a nice day. Oh, I forget how easy the Metro makes things.
Photos, for those interested.
