WASHINGTON (April 18, 11:37 a.m. PDT) - The halls of justice are open to all, or so we learn in civics class, but one visitor got the bum's rush at the Supreme Court on Friday.

The uninvited guest was a small brown bat, first seen flying around the court's huge ceremonial main hall on Wednesday night, court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said. The bat eluded a search party, but reappeared Friday morning as tourists milled around the hall and filed up the long marble front steps.

Police closed the court's front doors, and a groundskeeper collared the bat with a trash can. The lost bat stayed put until animal control officers arrived.

The nine justices weren't around for final disposition of the case, though. They were meeting behind closed doors, in a bat-free room, at the time.

Operation Bat went better than a foxhunt organized at the court last year. Foxhounds were unable to track down a fox seen slipping into the court's parking garage.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy later conceded the dogs were outfoxed, and court police assume the fox found its own way out of the building.