The new site is supremecourt.gov, replacing the old supremecourtus.gov.
I like the new layout: It provides the info I’m likely to be interested in right up front, such as recent opinions and the argument calendar. Dropping the “us” from the URL makes sense, too, given that Congress has senate.gov and house.gov rather than senateus.gov and houseus.gov. (I suppose it’s also consistent with DOJ’s move from usdoj.gov to justice.gov.) I suppose the switch causes some short-term headaches, but presumably those headaches would be bigger if the Court had waited to switch until some time in the future.
SUPREME COURT TRIVIA UPDATE: The new website has rotating pictures of the Supreme Court building on the homepage. Most of the places photographed are easily recognized, except for one. Which brings me to the trivia question: Where was this picture taken?
Andrew says:
Lookin’ good. Andrew(Quote)
yankee says:
Much better than the old site, which was hideous and a pain to navigate. Also better than the Senate Finance Committee’s site, which is “optimized for Netscape Navigator 4.x or Internet Explorer 4.x.” yankee(Quote)
JRL says:
Much better. It looks like a real website now. The old one was about as good as the website of the state appeals court that I used to work for. And that is a bad thing. JRL(Quote)
aphrael says:
It does look much better, but ... it’s powered by ASP.NET.
*wince* aphrael(Quote)
yankee says:
Also, I see that scotus.gov still produces a 404 not found error. Most unfortunate! yankee(Quote)
ruuffles says:
Now if they could do the same for all the circuit court websites. Yuck. ruuffles(Quote)
CVMe says:
I’d guess the picture is taken from the top of the other spiral staircase — the one that visitors cannot visit. I guess that because the one you can visit would be too easy, though I’m not sure how you would tell them apart from the photograph, which may be why you would say that the picture isn’t easily recognizable. CVMe(Quote)
jperkins says:
my guess is the stairwell is part of the scotus library? jperkins(Quote)
Bruce Boyden says:
I feel like I’ve been on a spiral staircase, after checking my phone on the 1st floor somewhere — but I’m going to guess this is the staircase up to the basketball court. Bruce Boyden(Quote)
Super Ball says:
The spiral staircase where the clerks and justices play super ball. Super Ball(Quote)
Off Kilter says:
From the movie Vertigo... Off Kilter(Quote)
PersonFromPorlock says:
So, does the across-the-board dropping of the “us” mean our government is now a generic government, nothing special about it?
OK, I know, I know, but file it under ‘accidental truths’. PersonFromPorlock(Quote)
terrivus says:
Just off the Court library, looking down one of the two (inaccessible) spiral staircases. terrivus(Quote)
Off Kilter says:
PfP: “So, does the across-the-board dropping of the “us” mean our government is now a generic government, nothing special about it?”
Of course not. It just means it no longer represents “us”. Off Kilter(Quote)
Anthony says:
Heh. Wonder what other countries think about the US absconding with the .gov and .mil domains (to be fair, at the time they were set down, it’s not like there were any non-US government or military sites on ARPAnet). Anthony(Quote)
cboldt says:
Not just a spiral staircase, it’s oval. The construction is uncommon, I think there is one other in the world. And I agree, it’s on the side that accesses the basketball court. cboldt(Quote)
Dudeman says:
Finally, a special icon for SCOTUS in my favorites menu..... Dudeman(Quote)
drunkdriver says:
Quick question: for cert petitions and merits briefs, which are the best sites to visit– abanet? scotuswiki?
Any others that some of you have found helpful? drunkdriver(Quote)
Dave N. says:
I like Abanet. I think it is clean, easy to follow, and provides the briefs in pdf format. It also has the bonus of linking directly off the Supreme Court website. Dave N.(Quote)
CVMe says:
Yes, the construction is special. As I recall the docent saying, there is no interior support or something like that. CVMe(Quote)
PeteP says:
“Where was this picture taken?”
From the top of the stairs ? :-) PeteP(Quote)
CrazyTrain says:
I know wrong thread but this can’t go uncommented on:
Seriously? CrazyTrain(Quote)
Anon321 says:
I assumed that it was a combination of Final Fantasy and March Madness, which is even more ominous still. Anon321(Quote)
Orin Kerr says:
I assumed it was a combination of the Final Countdown and Blues March, which was kind of cool. Orin Kerr(Quote)
krs says:
The background of the website is red right now. Will it occasionally change to blue when Justice Kennedy is in a different mood? krs(Quote)
Bleh says:
I assumed it was a combination of Final Destination and the March of Dimes, which made no sense at all to me... Bleh(Quote)
MITalum says:
MIT’s Fenway House also has an elliptical spiral stair.
See http://web.mit.edu/fenway/www/tour.html MITalum(Quote)
Patrick S. O'Donnell says:
Cf. the spiral staircase to this: http://jurisdynamics.blogspot.com/2008/11/natural-logarithms-and-nautilus.html Patrick S. O’Donnell(Quote)
Anatid says:
Orin–
Do you have access to a hi-res version of that photo? I think I just found my new desktop wallpaper. Anatid(Quote)
Cato The Elder says:
I laughed for a good 10 minutes when I read that. Cato The Elder(Quote)
Private Label Rights Simplified says:
Andrew says:
That photo is indeed from the top of the oval staircase right outside the entrance to the fitness room and basketball court. A previous commenter is correct, there’s no supports other than the steps themselves and where they’re connected to the wall. Andrew(Quote)
Ron Paul Being Censored In Telephone Polls | Daily Etrend News says:
Andrew MacKie-Mason says:
Actually...looking at it again, I’m wrong. I’m relatively sure that the staircase with the basketball court spirals the other way, so that the wall is on your left as you descend. Is this a matching one on the other side of the building? Andrew MacKie-Mason(Quote)
Oil Companies Caused Hurricane Katrina and Hollywood Caused Earthquakes says:
[insert here] delenda est says:
My memory probably fails me, since (amazingly) I don’t visit the SC that often. But I recall there being, as referred to by CVMe, a staircase which is inaccessible to visitors to the left of the courtroom as you enter — where Justices’ visitors walk past. I think you can see a radiation sign if you look in as a legacy of the good ol’ days.
Is that the staircase in question? [insert here] delenda est(Quote)
Abdul says:
It’s the staircase to the vault where the Justices keep their offerings to Satan for getting them such awesome jobs. Abdul(Quote)
CMH says:
I seem to vaguely recall being told when I last visited the Court that there were a total of 5 similar staircases in the world: Two at SCOTUS, two in a courthouse somewhere in the mid-west (from whatever state the architect was from, Minnesota maybe?), and a fifth that I forget.
Don’t let the apparent vividness of this memory suggest its accuracy. I haven’t been there for almost 20 years... CMH(Quote)
SCOTUSblog » Friday round-up says:
JR says:
Knowing little to nothing about the construction at 1 First St., I’ll be the contrarian and guess that it’s actually the entrance to the abyss where the Privileges or Immunities Clause is entombed, guarded by the undead walking soul of Justice Samuel F. Miller. JR(Quote)
BZ says:
Let me be a little contrarian:
Many of us link to the docket, and the docket is appropriately the first on the secondary menu to the left. Now the weird part: if you hover on the docket link, you get two secondary links, neither of which is the docket. So you have to actually click the docket link to get to the docket, and if you do, you can’t get to other two options you had if you hovered. Who designed this? BZ(Quote)
cityduck says:
The staircase reminds me of the new oval staircase in the vatican museum. cityduck(Quote)
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JaimeInTexas (Jam) says:
It is the death spiral into the “living” Constitution cone. JaimeInTexas (Jam)(Quote)
pchuck says:
The red is a bit much. pchuck(Quote)
Frances Munsell says:
My bad, only just found this… I wish I had known earlier :( Frances Munsell(Quote)
Bert Persing says:
Just thought i would comment and say neat theme, did you code it yourself? Looks great. If you liketo swap the links with us please let me know. Bert Persing(Quote)
US Supreme Court launches new website « UKSC blog says:
Terresa Mellard says:
Do you think blogging just has to be about writing? Reason I ask is I want to start a photography blog, but I feel I am better at expressing myself with photos rather than write. Should I even start it? With your experience could it work, more pictures, less words? Terresa Mellard(Quote)
Kids Hair Accessories says:
lol at the comment about “the spiral staircase where they play SUperbowl!” Amazing photo though, I’d like to take my kids there someday Kids Hair Accessories(Quote)
waLlpaper says:
I also think that new design is much much better. It is modern, looks charp and clean
I liked it waLlpaper(Quote)
Carter Kittelman says:
In vein. government allude to criminal acts that purposely take from the government of financ through trickery or blackmail... When the government draw cheated, citizens income the compensation price.. Government double-cross is a severe want, and is mostly hunt down to the biggest range of the law.. In actuality, in many government shakedown circumstance, both not lega and governmental charges are convey against the defendant.. Carter Kittelman(Quote)
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John Daly says:
Being in the domain industry I agree it was good to drop the .us, good job! John Daly(Quote)
Ham Radios says:
That’s a lot of steps for those old guys on the court to hike up and down every day :-) Ham Radios(Quote)
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Buzz says:
my guess is the stairwell is part of the scotus library? Buzz(Quote)
Chris says:
Thanks for this, I think it borders on gaudy, but it’s better than the alternative. I can’t think of a better website because most court sites are so outdated and ugly. Chris(Quote)
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Kevin Vlasick says:
OMG! That is an one sided point of view. I am sure I have the same view. Kevin Vlasick(Quote)
The judge says:
LOL — That was an odd point of view. I am sure I agree. The judge(Quote)
Jefftoch Adam says:
Actually it is really very interesting. Jefftoch Adam(Quote)
WorshipJobs says:
LOL — That was an odd point of view. I am sure I agree. WorshipJobs(Quote)
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