Q: Why does the Supreme Court’s term begin on the first Monday in October. And can that be changed?
A: Under a federal law first passed in 1916, Congress directed the Supreme Court to “hold at the seat of government a term of court commencing on the first Monday in October of each year and may hold such adjourned or special terms as may be necessary.”
Because the start date is prescribed by law, rather than by the Constitution, Congress can change – and has changed – it. As Clare Cushman recounted in a blog post for the Supreme Court Historical Society, Congress initially established two separate terms for the court, in February and August. In the decades that followed, Congress reduced the number of terms to one but moved back the start date of the remaining term – first to January and then to December and after that to the second Monday in October. Finally, in 1916, Congress adopted the first-Monday start date that the court has followed for more than a century.
However, the court has not always held oral arguments on the first Monday in October. For example, in 2006, the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur fell on the first Monday, Oct. 2, while 10 years later Rosh Hashanah fell on the first Monday, Oct. 3. On those days, the Supreme Court’s calendar designated the first Monday as a “nonargument” day – that is, a day when the justices (or at least some of them) take the bench, and may admit new lawyers to the Supreme Court bar, but do not hear arguments.
