I'm Elizabeth Slattery and welcome to SCOTUS 101, where we break down what's happening at the Supreme Court, what the justices are up to, and other things related to our favorite branch of government.

This week, I'm joined once again by my colleague John Michael Seibler. Welcome back.

Hey, Elizabeth. Thank you. So the biggest headline of the week is Justice Ginsburg's absence from oral arguments.

Chief Justice Roberts indicated that she will participate in the cases that she missed by reading the briefs and the argument transcripts.

Now, this is not unprecedented for members of the court, but it certainly is for the notorious RBG. It's the first

time she's missed an argument since joining the court 25 years ago. Justice Ginsburg underwent

surgery in late December to remove cancerous nodules from one of her lungs, and she's clearly

still recuperating. So I think it's a bit premature to read too much into this, and we'll see if she's

back next week. Yeah, definitely too early to tell. Neither she, she didn't miss a day of argument

when she or her husband were previously treated for cancer. Isn't that right? That's right. And

after her husband passed away, she was back at the court the next day. It's incredible. So she's

very committed to her job, and clearly she can't do it 100% next day. It's incredible. So she's very committed to her job.

And clearly she can't do it 100% right now.

She's still recuperating.

I mean, she had surgery, I think, two and a half weeks ago.

So we certainly hope that, you know, she's recovering well.

In other SCOTUS news, how much longer will the federal courts be able to operate if the government shutdown is not resolved?

Lydia Wheeler writes in the Hill that the Supreme Court and lower courts have been able to draw upon court fees and other funds that aren't tied to congressional appropriations.

The court actually remained open during previous government shutdowns, including the longest shutdown, which was in December, 1995 to January 1996, and it lasted 21 days.

Although by the time you are listening to this, dear listener, the current shutdown may be the longest.

Maybe.

So criminal cases are likely to continue, but we're already seeing civil dockets slow down in the lower federal courts.

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