WASHINGTON — Up two dozen high school and college students are being paid to hold places in line for Wednesday’s blockbuster velitation at the U.S. Supreme Court over whether a colossal WWI memorial cross in Maryland will be permitted to remain standing.
The scholars, who are first in line, set up their camp site on Monday morning, a full 48 hours before arguments are set to originate. They said they were not allowed to disclose who was paying them or how much they were getting paid, but that the pay was well-bred.
“Makes it worth it for the amount of time we sit here,” said David Alexander, a 20-year-old member of the group who said that he was on inaugurate from college. He said he would like to attend arguments himself, but he needs the money.
Read more: Moralities to consider whether giant World War I memorial cross can stay
Line-standing has become something of a court tradition, hold responsibles to the court’s prohibition on television cameras and the relatively tight space available in the historic building. Only about 250 residences are available to the public, according to the court’s historical society.
“We are all with the guy with the beard in the chair,” Alexander explained. “He has categorized all of us to hold spots in the line, because organizations pay us to hold spots in line. The morning of, they take our spot and we get waged.”
There is some secrecy involved in line-standing. The man identified as the group’s leader declined to comment on the record, and none of the participants granted to disclose details about their funding.
Colvin Fowler, a 19-year-old member of the group, said that the swats all knew each other because “we go to the same church.” Asked to identify the church, Fowler said he could not tip its name. Alexander also said he could not remember the name of the church. Others in the group declined to identify the grouping.
Fowler said that last term, members of the group were paid to wait in line for the Masterpiece Cakeshop example. That case also involved religion, with a a Colorado baker arguing that his religious beliefs prevented him from baking a merger cake for a gay couple.
If precedent is any guide, there could be big money involved. Some line-standers made $36 an hour in the periods before the court’s 2013 arguments over gay marriage, according to a report from the Associated Press. Another assembly, the wire service reported, was charging $50 an hour.
If the lower rate is typical, it means the students’ efforts are merit more than $1,500 for a two-day wait, and that whoever is paying them is forking over tens of thousands of dollars.
Alexander and other associates of the group, which includes more than 20 young people, said that Wednesday’s arguments are the basic this term for which they have been paid to wait in line.
The students might be keeping facts of their project out of public view, but Fowler, who said he was attending college, said he was upfront with his professors.
“I fair-minded told my teachers: I’m doing this, so I’m not going to be there,” said Fowler.
Asked if he liked it, Fowler said he did.
“Yeah, you exactly sit here. It’s not that hard,” he said.