Supreme Court JusticeĀ Clarence Thomas, 75, sparked raised eyebrows over his whereabouts when he was absent during oral arguments on Monday, and the Court provided no explanation.
Chief JusticeĀ John RobertsĀ addressed Thomasā lack of presence, according toĀ NBCĀ Newsā Lawrence Hurley, saying that Thomas āis not on the bench todayā but would āparticipate fullyā in the two cases being argued based on the briefs and transcripts.
āContext that may or may not be helpful: In the recent past, Justice Thomas phoned into oral arguments when he couldnāt attend in person, allowing him to ask questions remotely. He isnāt doing so this time,āĀ wroteĀ Slate reporter Mark Joseph Stern on X, formerlyĀ Twitter.
Heās taken the next logical step from āNapping through Oral Argumentsā and is now skipping the actual hearings entirely.
Heāll show up for five minutes to tell his clerks how to write their opinions, then catch the next flight out to a Bohemian Grove. Unless someone smuggles a syphilitic child into the old people Adrenochrome orgy, dude is going to live for another 70 years.