• Last fall,  the court resumed in-person arguments for the first time, and none chose to wear a mask except Justice Sonia Sotomayor 
  • When the court returned to the bench following the Omicron surge, Sotomayor made it clear she did not feel safe unless her colleagues were masked 
  • Roberts then reportedly asked the other justices to mask up so that Sotomayor could return, but Gorsuch, who sits directly next to her, remained obstinate 

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has refused to wear a mask in court despite pleas from Chief Justice John Roberts, according to a report.

Last fall, amid a decline in Covid-19 cases, the court resumed in-person arguments for the first time, and none chose to wear a mask except Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is 67 and has diabetes.

But earlier this month when the court returned to the bench following the Omicron surge over the holidays, Sotomayor made it clear she did not feel safe in close proximity with the others unless they were masked, according to NPR. 

The rules are far more strict for those in the chamber who don’t rank as justices. Reporters and lawyers are required to wear N95 masks and test negative for Covid-19.

The court could not be reached for comment on Gorsuch’s mask wearing, but Mike Davis, Gorsuch’s former law clerk, responded on Twitter: ‘Every justice is vaccinated and boosted. Don’t vaccines work? We know cloth masks don’t.’

Gorsuch, appointed by President Trump, also raised questions about vaccine mandates during oral arguments. The high court recently struck down President Biden’s vaccine-or-test requirement for private employers, but left in place the mandate for workers in healthcare settings that receive federal funding.

‘Could [the government] also implement regulations about exercise regimes, sleep habits, medicines and supplements that must be ingested by hospital employees in the name of health and safety?’ he questioned.

In a dissent of the decision to uphold the healthcare worker mandate, Gorsuch, along with Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas, described the vaccination requirement for healthcare workers as forcing them to ‘undergo a medical procedure they do not want and cannot undo.’

The court on Tuesday was hearing arguments over artwork stolen by the Nazis from a Jewish family fleeing Germany.

It also heard arguments on a case centering on Boston’s denial of a conservative group’s bid to fly a flag bearing a cross outside City Hall.