Having the three branches of government is what the original Capitol architects and state leaders in the early 1900s wanted and built for.

Durham said she and other Supreme Court justices have, in a sense of accommodation, acquiesced to GOP Senate leaders' wishes to be in charge of scheduling the use of the chambers and surrounding rooms during the 45-day Legislature. They are willing to that as long as it is clear that the high court can still use the chambers, a room for cloaking (or putting on their black robes) and the Rules room to deliberate after oral arguments both during the Legislature and at other times during the year.

Durham, who sits on the Capitol Preservation Board, which oversees the Capitol Hill complex, said, "It is an important symbolic function" for the high court to meet occasionally in the Capitol chambers.

Some senators have shown pique at the high court over some of its decisions; with one senator even suggesting that judges should come back before the Senate for reappointment at the end of their terms — thus giving the politicians the opportunity of removing judges from the bench.

"I don't know if we have" the constitutional or statutory authority to order the Senate to let the justices use their old chambers or other Capitol office space, Durham said.

"That's why we are working together" with the hope that the Senate will let them in to their old digs whenever they wish, she added.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com