Disagreement between judges
Favorite Trump swears the Supreme Court
1/19/2022 3:34 AM
Boss in the US Supreme Court: The Chief Justice asks his colleagues to wear a mask in the courtroom. All judges follow the call – except for one. Trump candidate Neil Gorsuch appears at a hearing as the only person who does not have a face mask.
US chief justices are reported to be arguing about wearing masks in the courtroom. On Tuesday, NPR reported, citing court sources, that Chief Justice John Roberts has asked his colleagues to wear masks due to the coronavirus pandemic. Conservative Judge Neil Gorsuch refused.
NPR reported that Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who has diabetes, “doesn’t feel safe around unmasked people.” So Roberts asked his colleagues to take that into account, and with the exception of Gorsuch, all the justices followed suit in the final hearing last Tuesday. Former Republican President Donald Trump has nominated Gorsuch, 54, for the presidency.
Sitting alongside Gorsuch on the podium, Sotomayor, 67, attended the court’s recent online hearings from her office. NPR reported that she also attended the judges’ weekly conferences by phone rather than in person.
Wearing masks, like vaccination, has become a political issue in the United States. Gorsuch was one of six Conservative Supreme Court justices who last week overturned the Joe Biden government’s proposed vaccination requirement for large corporations. On the other hand, Sotomayor and two other liberal judges voted for compulsory vaccination and testing.
After the coronavirus pandemic broke out in the United States in March 2020, the Supreme Court began holding hearings by phone. In October, the judges, all of whom were now vaccinated, resumed face-to-face hearings.
