WASHINGTON, DC.- The Supreme Court conducts its work largely out of public view, letting its opinions stand as one of the most visible markers of the justices’ rigorous debates on all aspects of American life. The justices typically take the bench to announce their decisions after presiding over arguments that have touched on some of the thorniest topics in the country: guns, abortion and the scope of presidential power. No cameras are allowed.

The New York Times received rare access to capture the courtroom during a momentous term.

A Place to Call Home

Before the Supreme Court building was constructed in 1935, the court was housed in state buildings and in the Capitol. William Howard Taft, the only person to serve as both U.S. president and chief justice, persuaded Congress to set aside funding for a permanent home.

The courtroom is almost square, with 30-foot Ionic columns that flank all four sides of the room. The furniture is Honduran mahogany. The marble is imported from Spain, Italy and Algeria.

Oral arguments and decision announcements are open to members of the public, who sit on red benches and chairs. But seating is limited. To be guaranteed one of about 50 spots, would-be spectators line up outside the court. For major cases, crowds have been known to camp out overnight for a chance to glimpse the court in action.

According to a book on the Supreme Court by Fred and Suzy Maroon, the heavy velvet drapes were added because the sunlight that streamed in from an inner courtyard could be so intense. They also helped with the acoustics, which were so muffled that Justice Felix Frankfurter suggested they should be declared unconstitutional.

The oak doors in the chamber feature ornate carvings. As with much of the building, the chamber appears older than it is. As Judith Resnik and Dennis Curtis, professors at Yale Law School, explained in a lecture and their book, “Representing Justice,” it “was designed to look old — as if it had been in place since the country’s founding.”

Only a slice of the Supreme Court’s work unfolds here. Secrecy is part of its institutional fabric: Few witness the justices at work and even fewer are privy to their internal deliberations.

The Bench

The nine justices sit behind a mahogany, wing-shaped bench, their spots designated according to seniority. The most junior justices sit on either end, with the chief justice occupying the center chair. The seating chart shifts when a justice leaves the court and a new one joins.

All the chairs match. The justices initially brought their own, but Chief Justice Warren E. Burger thought it looked “untidy” and ordered uniform chairs tailored to each new justice. Originally, the bench was straight across the front of the courtroom. However, the justices had trouble seeing and hearing one another and, in the early 1970s, it was angled.

The pageantry of the court continues to this day. At 10 a.m., a marshal ushers in an argument session by crying out, “Oyez, oyez, oyez.”

Lawyers sit at wooden tables on either side of a wooden lectern, where they present from. Lights fastened to the lectern alert them to how much time they have left. White quill pens are placed on the tables when the court sits for argument, a custom dating to its earliest days.

The justices enter the courtroom together through the heavy red velvet curtains behind the bench. Courtroom sessions, which begin each year on the first Monday of October, include oral arguments, admission of new members to the bar and, later in the term, the announcement of decisions.

The Ceiling

The architect of the building, Cass Gilbert, designed classical rosettes for the ceiling. They were created in part to give texture to the ceiling to absorb sound, according to the Supreme Court Historical Society.

Marble friezes, which span 40 feet in length and wrap the upper third of the courtroom, have been the source of controversy. Featured among the famed lawgivers across history is the Prophet Muhammad, drawing disapproval among some Islamic leaders in the 1990s who had called for his face to be sandblasted off. Islam strongly discourages depictions of the prophet.

He joins other carved figures meant to show the majesty of the law and the power of government, including Moses, Confucius and Napoleon.

Bearing Witness

Only once the coronavirus pandemic began did the court break with tradition and start streaming live audio of arguments. The handing down of opinions, however, is a ritual that can only be witnessed in person.

Members of the news media sit on benches against the marble columns. Taft is credited with helping anticipate the role that journalists would play in shaping the public’s view of the court.

Lawyers in the Supreme Court bar, who are allowed to practice before the court, sit in rows of chairs behind the counsel tables.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.