We will hear argument first this morning in case 21-454,

Sacket versus EPA. Mr. Schiff, you're up first this year.

Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, and may I please the Court?

The Supreme Court opened its doors to a new term on Monday.

Literally, the public was allowed into the Court for the first time since closing for the pandemic in March of 2020.

This week felt a little more normal with members of the public in the seats to watch the arguments.

But you know, it's still a weird thing. I mean, I covered two terms of the Court basically from my basement.

The Court didn't take the bench to talk about the big decisions it made.

They simply popped up on the Court's website.

That Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes, he's been covering the Court since 2006.

And he says last year was a term like no other, with precedent-shattering decisions on guns, the environment, and of course abortion.

So while things might be getting back to normal in some ways, there's still tension.

You know, I think that the Court is sort of scared of what might happen outbursts in the courtroom demonstrations.

From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. I'm Arjun Sang.

It's Friday, October 7th.

Today, we talk about the new Supreme Court term that's just begun this week, and why the Court and the country still aren't over the last one.

So we're getting ready for a new Supreme Court term, but I think for a lot of Americans, they are still very much thinking about some of the things that happened in the last one, particularly that decision about Roe vs. Wade.

Before we get into some of the cases that they're going to be hearing, what is the general sentiment towards the Supreme Court since that DOBS decision in their last term?

Well, I think it's not just Americans that haven't given up on the last term yet. I think it's the justices as well.

They, in their speeches over the summer, have not talked specifically, but they have sort of raised this question of what has such a big decision done to the Court's reputation.

I'm not talking about any particular decision, or even any particular series of decisions, but if, over time, the Court loses all connection with the public and with public sentiment, that's a dangerous thing for democracy.

It was a huge decision that has really changed the way a lot of people look at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in the past has sort of been the institution in Washington that had the highest approval rating because sometimes conservatives won at the Court, a few times liberals won at the Court, and so the public opinion was kind of split on how it was doing.

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