Play the lottery for a chance to skip the line, see the Supreme Court in action

WASHINGTON — People who want to see the Supreme Court in action can skip the line and enter a new online lottery system the court announced Thursday.

Starting with cases that will be argued in late February, seats will be distributed via lottery for arguments as well as sessions where the justices don’t hear new cases, but might announce decisions in previously argued ones.

The court did not say how many seats would be available through the lottery. The courtroom seats about 400 people but sometimes only a few dozen seats are set aside for the public.

For high-profile cases, the line can start days before the arguments. The court said some seating will remain for people who wait in line.

The public can request up to four seats and will be notified by email about three weeks before the session. Applications for future sessions will open shortly after the next monthly arguments calendar is released.

Can’t make it to the nation’s capital? The court makes available live audio of all its arguments.

The justices had never agreed to have their arguments streamed live, until the coronavirus pandemic closed the courthouse in March 2020 and forced the justices to take part in arguments remotely, via telephone.

The court retained the livestream even after the justices returned to in-person arguments the following year and welcomed the public back in 2022.