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The Running of the Interns is a Washington, DC, tradition, sometimes called a race,[1] that involves interns of news outlets running to deliver results of major decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States to the press.[2][3] Many media outlets have made note of this, including BuzzFeed, Newsweek, NPR and Cosmopolitan.[4][5][6][7]
History
Since 1946, recording devices have been banned inside the courtroom of the United States Supreme Court Building.[8] Thus, hand-delivered, paper copies remain the fastest way for news organizations to receive a particular landmark ruling.
The Supreme Court's decision is printed and delivered to a clerk's office, where it is handed to members of the press. Interns are not credentialed and must therefore wait in the hallway outside the press room.[1] Producers hand the paper copy rulings to their network interns, who sprint to deliver them to their respective organizations. The run itself is approximately 1⁄8–1⁄4 mile (200–400 m), from the courtroom to broadcasters awaiting outside.[9] Supporters and protestors alike cheer on the delivery of the opinions.[10] According to one intern, justices may still be announcing the decision by the time they are back inside.[2]
The interns often run wearing sneakers and business casual suits or skirts in 90 °F (32 °C) heat.[11]
In 2015, the interns were briefly removed after a CNN intern was caught by Supreme Court Police recording video footage with a GoPro camera.[12]
In 2016, interns relayed 13 decisions over three mornings.[1]
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, when general public and press were not allowed inside the Supreme Court building, the interns did not deliver paper documents of opinions to their media organization and have just downloaded such opinion documents from the court’s website.
Notable decision coverage
- Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt[9]
- King v. Burwell[3]
- Obergefell v. Hodges[13]
- McDonnell v. United States[1]
References
- ^ a b c d News, CBS. "The 2016 running of the interns". CBS News. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ a b Greenberg, Julia. "Why Supreme Court Interns Still Sprint to Deliver News". Wired. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ a b Dooley, Erin. "Running of the Interns: This Is What a Mad Dash Outside the Supreme Court Looks Like". ABC News. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ Johnson, Benny. "The 2013 Running Of The Interns". BuzzFeed. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ Gorman, Michele. "Photos: The Running of the Supreme Court Interns". Newsweek. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ Breslaw, Anna. "Wendy Davis' Working Girl Sneaker Is Sweeping the Nation". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ Hensley, Scott. "Supreme Court Health Care Ruling Prompts Foot Race In Press Corps". NPR. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ Kessler, Robert. "Why Aren't Cameras Allowed at the Supreme Court Again?". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ a b Johnson, Benny. "The 2016 Running of the Interns". Independent Journal Review. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ Pilkington, Caitlyn. "What Is The Running Of The Interns?". Women's Running. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ Stebner, Beth. "Running of the Interns: News assistants pictured making mad dash to deliver DOMA decision". Daily News. New York. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ Byers, Dylan. "CNN's GoPro antics rile Supreme Court". Politico. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ Le Conte, Marie. "The 'Running of the Interns' is the weirdest and funniest tradition you've never heard of". metro.co.uk. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
External links
- Buzzfeed News: The 2014 Running Of The Interns, June 30, 2014
- Wired.com: Why Supreme Court Interns Still Sprint to Deliver News, June 25, 2015
- CBS News, The 2016 Running of the Interns, June 27, 2016
- Youtube, Running of the Interns, June 26, 2013
- Minnesota Public Radio, The running of the Interns, August 22, 2018
- Youtube, The Five Running of the Interns, Aug 22, 2018
- ABC News, 'Start Here': Running of the interns, June 27, 2018
- Good Morning America, The 'GMA' Gang Performs the 'Running of the Interns', July 1, 2014
- ABC News: Watch Interns Make A Run For It At The Supreme Court, June 26, 2015