Here is the Plaza:
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https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/01_24_2012_Complaint_Hodge.pdf
The plaza on which Hodge stood is oval in shape and approximately 252 feet in length. It is separated from the sidewalk between First Street, N.E., and the Supreme Court building grounds by a few small steps which lead up about 3 feet to the plaza. It is a place where the public is allowed to gather and converse and is in all relevant respects like a public square or park, places where citizens have by long-tradition been allowed to meet and express their views on matters of public interest and importance.
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If you look at the Google Streetview, you see there are two sets of steps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=washington+dc+google+maps&ll=38.89077,-77.005932&spn=0.001049,0.001635&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Washington,+District+of+Columbia&gl=us&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=38.890662,-77.005931&panoid=wQfa4YiS-tRxhLHNXH5B8g&cbp=12,97.06,,0,0
There are a couple of steps leading up to the plaza, and then another set of steps leading up to the Court entrance.
Looking at the picture above, it is clear that the visible uniformed marshals are standing at an elevation slightly above that of the protesters, but not as high up as the bottoms of the columns.
There's only one way for that to happen, and that is if the marshals are standing at the top of the steps to the Plaza, and the protesters are on the sidewalk area at the bottom of the steps leading up to the Plaza.
What "steps" do you think the marshals are standing on? There are only two sets of steps.
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