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Law360 (March 5, 2021, 4:15 PM EST) -- The nine members of the U.S. Supreme Court have been "fully vaccinated" against the novel coronavirus, a court spokeswoman confirmed Friday, but the justices will continue to hold remote oral arguments via telephone through at least the end of March.
The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have all been vaccinated against the coronavirus but will continue to hear arguments by telephone through at least the end of March. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Despite their inoculation, the justices will continue hearing cases via teleconference through the upcoming argument session, which ends on March 31. The court has not yet indicated whether the April session will also be remote, though it has taken a cautious approach "in keeping with public health guidance in response to COVID-19," per Arberg's regular updates.
It has now been a year and one day since the justices, attorneys, journalists and members of the public last gathered in the court's famous courtroom for in-person oral arguments. Before 2020, the last time the court postponed arguments due to a public health crisis was during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. Prior to that, the court shortened its calendars in 1793 and 1798 after outbreaks of yellow fever.
Since May 2020, the justices have been participating in cases via telephone, where they ask questions in order of seniority, representing a dramatic shift from the typical free-for-all style of the court's in-person arguments. Perhaps the most notable difference between the formats is that Justice Clarence Thomas, perennially silent during in-person hearings, now takes full advantage of his allotted three-minute questioning time to pose intriguing questions about each case, at one point posing a hypothetical involving the fictional character Frodo Baggins.
Through the pandemic, the court has not revealed whether any justices have tested positive for COVID-19. However, the Washington Post reported last fall that then-Supreme Court nominee and Seventh Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett had contracted the virus over the summer of 2020 and recovered. Justice Barrett's nomination announcement at the White House became the subject of intense scrutiny after numerous mask-less attendees later tested positive as well.
Meanwhile, the court has weighed in on the legality of numerous public health responses to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Since Justice Barrett was sworn in, however, the court has replaced a deferential approach to such measures with more scrutiny, most notably lifting limits on religious gatherings in New York and California.
--Editing by Alyssa Miller.
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