You ready?

I was born ready.

Welcome to the advisory opinion podcast.

This is David French with Sarah Isger and my goodness have we got a podcast for you.

We're going to start with what we're just calling mask gate around these parts, which is the NPR report of dissension on the court regarding masks and tension on the court that then got some really interesting and rare rebuttals from none other than three of the nine justices on the Supreme Court, including the relevant justices mentioned in the story and the chief justice.

I've got questions for Sarah about that.

Then we have a Trump privilege executive privilege decision from the Supreme Court that is it fair to say basically site you Sarah.

Oh, I think it was written to me, but then it was published publicly.

Basically site you then we have two oral arguments, interesting oral arguments to discuss one to me is more interesting than the other.

We might get to some other stuff that I'm not going to actually tease yet because we might not get to it, but then we are going to have the definitive answer about those 17th and 18th and early 19th century schedules,

sleep schedules, including and party schedules in all Mary old England that Sarah was asking about before and the answer to that is fascinating, absolutely fascinating definitively delivered by knowledgeable listener.

So we've got a lot, okay, we're starting with mask gate and when I I'm I'm just going to open by reading the first couple of paragraphs or the relevant paragraphs and then what happened next and then Sarah, I have questions for you.

This is a story by Nina Totenberg and it begins like this, it was pretty jarring earlier this month when the justices of the Supreme Court took the bench for the first time since the Omicrons are drove the holidays all were now wearing masks all that is except for Justice Neil Gorsuch.

What's more, Justice Sonia Sotomayor was not there at all choosing instead to participate through a microphone set up in her chambers. Sotomayor has diabetes, a condition that puts her at high risk for serious illness or even death from COVID-19.

She has been the only justice to wear a mask on the bench since last fall when amid a market decline in COVID-19 cases, the justices resumed in person arguments for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.

Now though the situation had changed with the Omicrons urge and according to court sources, Sotomayor did not feel safe and close proximity to people who are 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 mayor 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.

Okay, that report comes out and there is an avalanche of condemnation for Justice Gorsuch and avalanche of condemnation.

The story is picked up, it's carried everywhere, Justice Gorsuch who has famously made arguments for civility and decency in public life.

The narrative is set, Gorsuch refuses to mask, that makes his vulnerable colleague uncomfortable, his vulnerable colleague doesn't attend oral arguments.

And then all of a sudden, three of the nine justices come out and release statements, justices Sotomayor in Gorsuch about masking, quote, reporting that Justice Sotomayor asked Justice Gorsuch to wear a mask, surprised us it is false.

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