Courts

Neil Gorsuch's Call For Civility Was Always Just For Show

Updated with theories on the... peculiar joint statement from Justices Sotomayor and Gorsuch.

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Neil Gorsuch Hearing

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

This information probably does not surprise Supreme Court watchers — like even a little bit — but, Neil Gorsuch is a real jerk of a coworker.

Folks have noted that since the omicron COVID surge, Neil Gorsuch was the only Supreme Court justice not to mask up during oral arguments. And we’ve also noted that Sonia Sotomayor, who has type 1 diabetes and is over 65 (both risk factors for COVID complications), was participating in Court business virtually.

Turns out you are 100% correct to assume those facts are related. And Gorsuch has refused to mask up despite being specifically asked to do so by the Chief Justice, as reported earlier today by Nina Totenberg:

Now, though, the situation had changed with the omicron surge, and according to court sources, Sotomayor did not feel safe in close proximity to people who were unmasked. Chief Justice John Roberts, understanding that, in some form asked the other justices to mask up.

They all did. Except Gorsuch, who, as it happens, sits next to Sotomayor on the bench. His continued refusal since then has also meant that Sotomayor has not attended the justices’ weekly conference in person, joining instead by telephone.

Now Gorsuch is trending on Twitter as his asshole status comes into focus:

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The eye-popping super irony here, of course, is that GORSUCH HAS WRITTEN A BOOK ON CIVILITY. He recounted a story in the book that his wife’s grandmother told him he’d never be sorry for being kind. I guess that was all lip service until he could use a stolen lifetime appointment to stick it to an elderly immunocompromised coworker!

But really, the one that gets me is Gorsuch’s reported fondness for a particular rule of civility that George Washington is said to have written as a child:

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And [Gorsuch] notes that George Washington had to copy by hand all 110 rules of civility that were written by the Jesuits in 1595. In the interview, Gorsuch paraphrased one rule that he particularly liked.

“Do not speak so closely to another person with such enthusiasm that you bedew the other man with your spittle,” he said, from a safe distance. “It’s a good rule. It’s a good rule.”

You know what else helps with that spittle problem? A goddamned mask.

UPDATE: Justices Gorsuch and Sotomayor issued a statement… that doesn’t actually answer the argument in Totenberg’s reporting (that the Chief asked everyone to mask up and Gorsuch refused):

And Twitter is abuzz trying to figure out what exactly is going on here. Is it a guilt trip? Did no one read the original story? But this is my personal clubhouse leader for theories as to what on earth this statement actually means.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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