The most senior justice on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas, resumed hearing oral arguments in-person this week following his abrupt recent hospitalization.
The return of Thomas was marked by his opening questions during oral arguments over the case United States v. Washington on Monday. Thomas’s voice was noticeably absent from discussions during the last two weeks of March. Thomas was discharged from the hospital on March 25, one week after he was admitted due to an infection causing flulike symptoms.
Representatives for the Supreme Court have been quiet in regard to Thomas’s health status, aside from brief statements about his expected discharge date from the hospital.
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NEW: Clarence Thomas is back on the bench this morning after being hospitalized last month and missing some oral arguments. As has become customary this term, Thomas asks the first question today. The court still has given little information about why Thomas was in the hospital.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) April 18, 2022
Thomas appeared to be in good spirits earlier this month when he met Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker in his first quasipublic appearance since leaving the hospital.
Monday’s oral arguments started the final slate of April cases the Supreme Court will hear for the 2021-22 term. The court will continue releasing decisions over several impactful cases until late June, when Justice Stephen Breyer is slated to step down for his successor Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to take his place for the fall session.
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Justices will hear several high-profile cases over the next two weeks including the court’s first examination of Trump-era immigration policy, a First Amendment case over whether a public school football coach has the right to pray on the field, and a case over a procedural dispute stemming from a police officer’s failure to issue a Miranda warning.
