Running of the Interns


The Running of the Interns is a Washington, DC, tradition, sometimes called a race, that involves interns of news outlets running to deliver results of major decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States to the press. Many media outlets have made note of this, including Buzzfeed, Newsweek, NPR and Cosmopolitan.

History

Since 1946, recording devices have been banned inside the courtroom of the United States Supreme Court Building. 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. Producers hand the paper copy rulings to their network interns, who sprint to deliver them to their respective organizations. The run itself is approximately, from the courtroom to broadcasters awaiting outside. Supporters and protestors alike cheer on the delivery of the opinions. According to one intern, justices may still be announcing the decision by the time they are back inside.
The interns often run wearing sneakers and business casual suits or skirts in heat.
In 2015, the interns were briefly removed after a CNN intern was caught by Supreme Court Police recording video footage with a GoPro camera.
In 2016, interns relayed 13 decisions over three mornings.

Notable decision coverage