<P> The Supreme Court Building is built in the Neoclassical style . The public façade is made of marble quarried from Vermont, and that of the non-public - facing courtyards, Georgia marble . Most of the interior spaces are lined with Alabama marble, except for the Courtroom itself, which is lined with Spanish ivory vein marble . For the Courtroom's 24 columns, "Gilbert felt that only the ivory buff and golden marble from the Montarrenti quarries near Siena, Italy" would suffice . To this end, in May 1933, he petitioned the Italian Premier, Benito Mussolini, "to ask his assistance in guaranteeing that the Siena quarries sent nothing inferior to the official sample marble ." </P> <P> Not all the justices were thrilled by the new arrangements, the courtroom in particular . Harlan Fiske Stone complained it was "almost bombastically pretentious...Wholly inappropriate for a quiet group of old boys such as the Supreme Court ." Another justice observed that he felt the court would be "nine black beetles in the Temple of Karnak," while still another complained that such pomp and ceremony suggested the justices ought to enter the courtroom riding on elephants . The New Yorker columnist Howard Brubaker noted at the time of its opening that it had "fine big windows to throw the New Deal out of ." </P> <P> The west façade of the building (essentially, the "front" of the court, being the side which faces the Capitol) bears the motto "Equal Justice Under Law," while the east façade bears the motto "Justice, the Guardian of Liberty ." On November 28, 2005, a basketball - sized chunk of marble weighing approximately 172 lb (78 kg) fell four stories from the west façade onto the steps of the Court; it had previously been part of the parapet above the word "under" in the "equal justice under law" engraving immediately above the figure of a Roman centurion carrying fasces . After the incident, planning was initiated to repair the west façade which includes cleaning, removal of debris and restoration . In 2012 scaffolding encased the west façade printed with a full - size photograph of the façade . The project was completed in 2013 . </P> <P> The Supreme Court Building's facilities include: </P>

Above the west entrance to the u.s. supreme court building is the phrase