It’s being reported this morning that Sonia Sotomayor is working remotely via telephone because one of her fellow justices won’t wear a mask in court:
Nina Totenberg reports that (1) the Chief Justice asked his colleagues to mask up out of respect for Sotomayor’s health concerns, (2) only Gorsuch refused, and (3) his refusal forced Sotomayor to participate in arguments and conference remotely. https://t.co/DmsQV8j7Wz pic.twitter.com/7JG5hMN0q7
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) January 18, 2022
As she did last week, Sonia Sotomayor will participate in this week's arguments remotely, SCOTUS says. @NinaTotenberg reported this morning that Sotomayor's decision is the result of Neil Gorsuch's refusal to wear a mask on the bench. All other justices have agreed to wear masks.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) January 18, 2022
Apparently Sotomayor has diabetes and didn’t feel comfortable working around justices who didn’t wear a mask. Thus, Roberts asked them all to wear a mask for Sotomayor.
Gorsuch is the one who reportedly refused and because he sits beside Sotomayor, she’s opting to work remotely.
You can expect this to turn into a lot of hate for Gorsuch today even though we don’t know why he refused. He’s probably the one realist who knows that unless they are wearing N95s, masks aren’t that effective at stopping the spread.
I think Gorsuch’s refusal, for whatever reason, is probably the best for Sotomayor. If she really feels she’s at risk, then she should work remotely because a non-N95 isn’t going to protect her.