SCOTUS, Supreme Court

Law Student of the Day: Mike Sacks

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Georgetown 3L Mike Sacks had a mission this semester. He wanted to be first in line for every major argument at the Supreme Court. He’s been documenting his adventures on his blog First One @ One First.
This is made easier for him because he has no morning classes and lives on Capitol Hill, a few minutes away from the High Court. He should also have camping experience from his undergrad days at Duke, but unlike me, he somehow avoided spending time in Krzyzewskiville.
Maybe if he had paid his dues tenting out for basketball games, he would have succeeded in his mission. But no. Some Californians derailed him this week, as documented by the New York Times.


Adam Liptak of the NYT went down to the Court on Monday to check out the line for the Second Amendment case McDonald v. Chicago, being argued today. Liptak was impressed by Sack’s mission, but noted that he failed with this case:

Mike Sacks likes to be the first person in line for big Supreme Court arguments, and he was feeling pretty confident when he arrived at the court Monday morning around 8, 26 hours before the court would hear a big gun-control case.
But he found a couple from California already set up in lawn chairs. Robert Cumberland and Larken Euliss, two chemists from California, had arrived before dawn.

The California chemists were there to cheer for McDonald fighting Chicago’s handgun ban, with Robert Cumberland sporting a “Guns Save Lives” button.
Liptak also ran into the “10th Justice” there, but he did not seem overly impressed:

Josh Blackman was walking around telling people about his blog, which allows people to make predictions about how the term’s cases will come out. “I’m the czar of Fantasy Scotus,” he said by way of introduction, adding that he had recently barred three people from his site for cheating.

Sacks doesn’t seem too upset about his project turning into First One Sometimes Third One @ One First. He tells Above the Law:

It’ll get back on track. Can’t much compete with someone who gets in line at 5:30am the day before the case.

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Sacks will be writing a post for us on how to tailgate score a SCOTUS seat. If you have any specific questions, shoot us an email.
Tailgating at the Supreme Court, Without the Cars [New York Times]
FIRST ONE @ ONE FIRST [official blog]

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