As the sailors’ chorus sang in Act III, Scene I, of the original version of Ben Britten’s, Eric Crozier’s and E. M. Forster’s 1951 sea opera Billy Budd, “This is our moment we’ve been waiting for these long weeks.”

Yes, the ponderous doors of The Glasshouse on Second Street will swing slowly in the wind as they open on October 12, 2021 (a significant day in our family, but not for that reason).

The reboot kicks off with Facebook Inc., and Subsidiaries, but only litigants will be admitted, and no livestream will be provided.

Here’s the skinny from the Glasshouse website.

“In anticipation of its return to in-person proceedings, the Court has posted a new publication, Court Standards and Protocols to Protect Public Health. The Court has also posted Administrative Order 2021-02 which provides protocols for attending in-person proceedings in the Washington, D.C. courthouse. The standards and protocols from both documents will apply to the Court’s first in-person proceedings since March 2020, scheduled to commence on Tuesday, October 12, 2021, at 10:00 AM Eastern Time, in Docket No. 21959-16, Facebook, Inc. & Subsidiaries, Petitioner v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent. Livestream audio is not provided for in-person proceedings. The United States Tax Court building remains closed to non-trial-related visitors. For more information, see the Press Release and refer to other materials available on the COVID-19 Resources page.”

So the doors reopen: stealthily.