Attendees at a rally in January calling for an end to corporate money in politics on the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, at Lafayette Square near the White House. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)  Timing is critical if you want to have a really, really good demonstration.  Take Wednesday, when five protesters were arrested inside the Supreme Court after they disrupted the proceedings by shouting their disapproval of the court’s campaign finance rulings.  As the Justices were gathering at the bench to begin the session, the group began shouting in the back of the courtroom: “One person, one vote! Overrule Citizens United!” our pal and veteran Supreme Court reporter Lyle Denniston posted on SCOTUSblog.  Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wryly remarked: “You wouldn’t think a bankruptcy case would attract such attention.”  But as the shouting continued, Roberts said, “Oh, please!” And he warned them they could face a criminal contempt charge. Five demonstrators were hustled out, and the court proceeded with the session.  The demonstration by the group, 99Rise, was timed for the first anniversary of another of the court’s campaign finance rulings, April 2, 2014, which struck down overall campaign contribution limits. It was the group’s second demonstration this year.  But the court was not going to be in session Thursday, April 2, so the protesters came Wednesday. Unfortunately, most of the regular Supreme Court reporters weren’t there, because, for very good reasons, the bankruptcy case was not particularly newsworthy.  Here’s the question presented in Harris v. Viegelahn: “When a debtor in good faith converts a bankruptcy case to Chapter 7 after confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan, are undistributed funds held by the Chapter 13 trustee refunded to the debtor (as the Third Circuit held in In re Michael, 699 F.3d 305 (2012) or distributed to creditors (as the Fifth Circuit held below)?”  Wednesday’s disruption hardly compares with the one in 1983 when porn publisher Larry Flynt started screaming truly vile obscenities at the justices from his gold-plated wheelchair in the back of the courtroom.  [Supreme Court disrupted by protest over campaign finance ruling]  “- – – – this court. . . . You denied me the counsel of my choice,” Flynt said, as we reported at the time. Flynt “shouted at the startled justices as he opened a white jacket that had concealed a black T-shirt emblazoned with a similarly obscene attack on the court.”  Al Kamen, an award-winning columnist on the national staff of The Washington Post, created the “In the Loop” column in 1993.
A group of demonstrators against the Supreme Court's campaign finance rulings found a limited group of reporters in the courtroom.