Supreme Court Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch push back on reports of dispute over mask wearing
pushed back Wednesday on reporting that the two are engaged in a dispute over mask wearing inside the nation’s highest courtroom amid the surging COVID-19 pandemic.
In a joint statement released by the court, the two said news accounts of the dispute “surprised us” and described them as “false.”
“While we may sometimes disagree about the law, we are warm colleagues and friends,” the two said in the statement.
Chief Justice John Roberts also disputed the reports in a separate statement.
The highly unusual public reaction came as Gorsuch has broken with the other eight justices in declining to wear a mask during oral arguments. Since the omicron variant triggered a recent surge in infections, Sotomayor has been taking part in arguments remotely from her chambers in the building rather than sitting on the bench.
Report:Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch refuses to wear mask in the courtroom, despite request from Roberts
The court returned to in-person oral arguments in October after a term in which it heard arguments via telephone.
A report from NPR, citing unnamed sources, said that Sotomayor did not feel safe near people who were unmasked. Roberts had asked the justices to wear masks in the courtroom, NPR reported, but Gorsuch declined to do so.
The initial joint statement disputed the notion that Sotomayor asked Gorsuch to wear a mask. But the NPR story said it was Roberts who requested that the justices wear masks and the first statement did not address that point.