My experience attending oral argument in the public line (non lottery)
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
I attended oral arguments for Wolford v. Lopez on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 by waiting in the public line, and wanted to write up my experience as a data point for others. I had done a lot research beforehand as to what to expect, some of which was still applicable and some of which turned out to be outdated.
This was my second trip to Washington, DC. The first time was several months ago; I had also applied for the lottery then on a relatively obscure and technical case, and was not drawn. I have always wanted to attend oral arguments, especially for a Second Amendment case, which is a personal interest of mine. I therefore made my flight and hotel arrangements around the Wolford case, entered the lottery again, and planned to attend whether or not I was drawn. Three weeks before the trip, I was notified that I was once again not selected in the lottery, and made plans to stand in the public line.
Planning
The weather forecast was fortunately clear, but with a high of 28 and low of 15 degrees, I knew it was going to be a cold night. I checked luggage on my flight from the West Coast, bringing a zero degree rated down sleeping bag and inflatable sleeping pad with an R-value of 5 that I usually use for snow camping. I also brought a set of merino wool thermals to sleep in, and a garment bag with my suit to throw on over the thermals in the morning. I also packed plenty of hand warmers, warm mittens, wool socks, a pair of dress socks, a comb, a powerbank, and a travel pillow. I threw all of this into a collapsible duffel bag.
Arriving
My flight landed around 10:30pm. By the time I made my way to the hotel, checked in, and organized my gear, I did not arrive in line until 1:00am. The public line starts at the northeast corner of East Capitol Street and First Street, and stretches to the east along the Capitol Street sidewalk. Members of the SCOTUS bar have their own line on the other side of the building. I had read that they only guarantee public admission for the first 15 people, and was elated to count out that I was #12. The first four people were asleep in bags, there were a couple of empty chairs, a few more people sitting in folding chairs under blankets (shivering and looking absolutely miserable), and a few more empty chairs next to me. As far as I could tell, each of the chairs had an owner in a nearby parked car waiting out of the cold, but I can’t say for sure that no one was cheating the system. I did not see those folks emerge until between 6 and 7am. There was one gentleman just hanging around, who was more or less the self-appointed line monitor, and seemed to be a boss at one of the line standing companies.
Waiting
I don’t sleep well on planes, and didn’t get much sleep here. But I was perfectly warm with my bag and pad. The next person did not arrive until 3:30am, and the few people trickled in around 5am. Between 5 and 6, a group of 15 or so high school students arrived. Contrary to some reports that people would be led in at 7-7:30, the line company manager advised me that the police would not come and hand out passes until about 9:30am, which turned out to be correct. I got out of my sleeping bag a little after 5am, threw …
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
I attended oral arguments for Wolford v. Lopez on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 by waiting in the public line, and wanted to write up my experience as a data point for others. I had done a lot research beforehand as to what to expect, some of which was still applicable and some of which turned out to be outdated.
This was my second trip to Washington, DC. The first time was several months ago; I had also applied for the lottery then on a relatively obscure and technical case, and was not drawn. I have always wanted to attend oral arguments, especially for a Second Amendment case, which is a personal interest of mine. I therefore made my flight and hotel arrangements around the Wolford case, entered the lottery again, and planned to attend whether or not I was drawn. Three weeks before the trip, I was notified that I was once again not selected in the lottery, and made plans to stand in the public line.
Planning
The weather forecast was fortunately clear, but with a high of 28 and low of 15 degrees, I knew it was going to be a cold night. I checked luggage on my flight from the West Coast, bringing a zero degree rated down sleeping bag and inflatable sleeping pad with an R-value of 5 that I usually use for snow camping. I also brought a set of merino wool thermals to sleep in, and a garment bag with my suit to throw on over the thermals in the morning. I also packed plenty of hand warmers, warm mittens, wool socks, a pair of dress socks, a comb, a powerbank, and a travel pillow. I threw all of this into a collapsible duffel bag.
Arriving
My flight landed around 10:30pm. By the time I made my way to the hotel, checked in, and organized my gear, I did not arrive in line until 1:00am. The public line starts at the northeast corner of East Capitol Street and First Street, and stretches to the east along the Capitol Street sidewalk. Members of the SCOTUS bar have their own line on the other side of the building. I had read that they only guarantee public admission for the first 15 people, and was elated to count out that I was #12. The first four people were asleep in bags, there were a couple of empty chairs, a few more people sitting in folding chairs under blankets (shivering and looking absolutely miserable), and a few more empty chairs next to me. As far as I could tell, each of the chairs had an owner in a nearby parked car waiting out of the cold, but I can’t say for sure that no one was cheating the system. I did not see those folks emerge until between 6 and 7am. There was one gentleman just hanging around, who was more or less the self-appointed line monitor, and seemed to be a boss at one of the line standing companies.
Waiting
I don’t sleep well on planes, and didn’t get much sleep here. But I was perfectly warm with my bag and pad. The next person did not arrive until 3:30am, and the few people trickled in around 5am. Between 5 and 6, a group of 15 or so high school students arrived. Contrary to some reports that people would be led in at 7-7:30, the line company manager advised me that the police would not come and hand out passes until about 9:30am, which turned out to be correct. I got out of my sleeping bag a little after 5am, threw …
My experience attending oral argument in the public line (non lottery)
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
I attended oral arguments for Wolford v. Lopez on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 by waiting in the public line, and wanted to write up my experience as a data point for others. I had done a lot research beforehand as to what to expect, some of which was still applicable and some of which turned out to be outdated.
This was my second trip to Washington, DC. The first time was several months ago; I had also applied for the lottery then on a relatively obscure and technical case, and was not drawn. I have always wanted to attend oral arguments, especially for a Second Amendment case, which is a personal interest of mine. I therefore made my flight and hotel arrangements around the Wolford case, entered the lottery again, and planned to attend whether or not I was drawn. Three weeks before the trip, I was notified that I was once again not selected in the lottery, and made plans to stand in the public line.
Planning
The weather forecast was fortunately clear, but with a high of 28 and low of 15 degrees, I knew it was going to be a cold night. I checked luggage on my flight from the West Coast, bringing a zero degree rated down sleeping bag and inflatable sleeping pad with an R-value of 5 that I usually use for snow camping. I also brought a set of merino wool thermals to sleep in, and a garment bag with my suit to throw on over the thermals in the morning. I also packed plenty of hand warmers, warm mittens, wool socks, a pair of dress socks, a comb, a powerbank, and a travel pillow. I threw all of this into a collapsible duffel bag.
Arriving
My flight landed around 10:30pm. By the time I made my way to the hotel, checked in, and organized my gear, I did not arrive in line until 1:00am. The public line starts at the northeast corner of East Capitol Street and First Street, and stretches to the east along the Capitol Street sidewalk. Members of the SCOTUS bar have their own line on the other side of the building. I had read that they only guarantee public admission for the first 15 people, and was elated to count out that I was #12. The first four people were asleep in bags, there were a couple of empty chairs, a few more people sitting in folding chairs under blankets (shivering and looking absolutely miserable), and a few more empty chairs next to me. As far as I could tell, each of the chairs had an owner in a nearby parked car waiting out of the cold, but I can’t say for sure that no one was cheating the system. I did not see those folks emerge until between 6 and 7am. There was one gentleman just hanging around, who was more or less the self-appointed line monitor, and seemed to be a boss at one of the line standing companies.
Waiting
I don’t sleep well on planes, and didn’t get much sleep here. But I was perfectly warm with my bag and pad. The next person did not arrive until 3:30am, and the few people trickled in around 5am. Between 5 and 6, a group of 15 or so high school students arrived. Contrary to some reports that people would be led in at 7-7:30, the line company manager advised me that the police would not come and hand out passes until about 9:30am, which turned out to be correct. I got out of my sleeping bag a little after 5am, threw …
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