Since the Supreme Court building opened in 1935, there has been a press room in roughly the same ground floor location. But the room has expanded and changed over the years as press coverage of the Court has increased and as computer screens have replaced manual typewriters for many of the journalists who work there.
The press room's current appearance dates to a major renovation in 1982, when two rooms were combined to produce an enlarged rectangular space. A further remodeling, to accommodate electronic needs, will be included in a building‐wide renovation project scheduled for completion in 2008. Nineteen news organizations, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the major television networks, have permanently assigned desks. Most of these are in small carrels defined by movable partitions and furnished with desks and bookcases built in the Court's carpentry shop.
Reporters without assigned spaces use the two long tables that take up the middle of the room. These reporters usually spend most of their time in their downtown offices, coming to the Court only to listen to an oral argument or pick up an opinion. In adjoining rooms, a complete set of briefs and petitions for the current term is available for reporters' use, as is a set of United States Reports and other basic research materials.
See also Buildings, Supreme Court; Press Coverage.
— Linda Greenhouse
