Did the SCOTUS session always begin on the first Monday of October?
(Image Copyright: Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States)
No! The start-day changed many, many times. Let's take a quick look at the history.
The Judiciary Act of 1789, Section 1 states: “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the supreme court of the United States shall consist of a chief justice and five associate justices, any four of whom shall be a quorum, and shall hold annually at the seat of government two sessions, the one commencing the first Monday of February, and the other the first Monday of August.” The justices used to spend July riding circuit in courts around the country.
Over the years, the Court consolidated its two sessions into one annual term in 1802. The annual session start-date changed multiple times over the years. Session started on the first Monday in January in 1827, then the first Monday in December in 1844 and then the second Monday in October in 1873. In 1916, Congress moved the Court’s start date from the second Monday in October to the current first Monday. The change was approved on September 6, 1916, as part of an act to redefine the Judicial Code and expand the number of appeals petitions considered by the Court. The new start date took effect in 1917.
During the summer months, justices work on books, teach at universities or travel for conferences and speaking engagements. In 2017, Chief Justice Roberts taught a course about the Supreme Court at Victoria University in New Zealand. And let’s not forget about the trip that late justices Scalia and Bader-Ginsburg took to India in 1994 (the iconic image of the two of them riding an elephant). As for the other justices, most try to stay out of the limelight. Thomas enjoys driving his motorhome across country and Breyer usually visits his summer cabin in New Hampshire.
Fun fact: Roberts, who may now be fond of the summer hiatus, stated mockingly in 1983 that “only Supreme Court justices and schoolchildren are expected to and do take the entire summer off.” To be fair, he said this long before he was the Chief Justice back while he was working as attorney for the Reagan administration.
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