Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are required to take two oaths before they may execute their duties:

“ I ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as ________ under the Constitution and laws of the United States; and that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies; foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” 

Term and Oral Arguments

The Term of the Court begins, by law, on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October of the new year. Each Term, approximately 5,000-7,000 new cases are filed in the Supreme Court. This is a substantially larger volume of cases that was presented to the Court in the last century. In the 1950 Terms, for example, the Court received only 1,195 new cases, and even as recently as the 1975 Term in received only 3,940. Plenary review, with oral arguments by attorneys, is granted in about 80 cases each Terms, and typically disposes of about 100 or more cases without plenary review. The publication of each Terms’ written opinions, including concurring opinions, dissenting opinions, and order, can take up thousands of pages. During the drafting process, some opinions may be revised or dozen or more times before they are announced. 

The Supreme Court Building is located at One First Street, NE, in Washington, DC is the permanent home of the Court. Oral arguments for cases the Court is hearing, are held in this building. The building was completed in 1935 and is open to the the public.