28 U.S.C. § 2
Section 2 · Terms of court
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 203 court decisions — leading case Fourco Glass Company v. Transmirra Products Corporation (1957)
Most recently applied in Rossbach v. Montefiore Medical Center (August 2023)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 28 U.S.C. § 3 · 28 U.S.C. § 2241 · 28 U.S.C. § 1291
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The Supreme Court shall 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.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §338 (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, §230, 36 Stat. 1156; Sept. 6, 1916, ch. 448, §1, 39 Stat. 726).
Minor changes in phraseology were made.
Rules of the Supreme Court
Term, see rule 3, Appendix to this title.
Cross References
Courts always open, see section 452 of this title.
Official station of Supreme Court Justices, see section 456 of this title.
Seat of the Government, see chapter 3 of Title 4, Flag and Seal, Seat of Government, and the States.