- Associate Justice Clarence Thomas was absent from oral arguments Monday without explanation.
- John Roberts said Thomas would participate in the day’s affairs via transcripts and briefs, according to The AP.
- Thomas, 75, is the court’s oldest member and a key member of its influential conservative bloc.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas was absent from oral arguments Monday and the court did not explain why he would not be present.
After the court sat for arguments in the morning, Chief Justice John Roberts said Thomas would be absent and participate in the cases through transcripts and briefs, according to the Associated Press.
Thomas, 75, did not participate in the proceedings remotely, an option that justices sometimes use when they are ill or cannot physically come to the Supreme Court building, according to the report.
Business Insider has contacted the Supreme Court for comment.
In 2022, Thomas was hospitalized with an infection after experiencing “flu-like symptoms.”
Thomas is the court’s longest-serving associate justice, having been nominated in 1991 by then-President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate later that year.
With the nominations of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Thomas has also seen his judicial influence catapult as the oldest member of the Court’s six-member conservative bloc.
Last year, ProPublica first reported that Thomas had took a luxury vacation funded by billionaire real estate developer Harlan Crow for over 20 years without disclosing travel.
In answerThomas said at the time that he was told there was no need to report “that kind of personal hospitality.”
businessinsider
