Justices meet in person for first time in a year

The Supreme Court’s justices met Friday for the first time in more than a year, marking a gradual return to normality for the high court.

Supreme Court spokesperson Kathy Arberg confirmed to The Hill that most of the justices gathered Friday for a regularly scheduled private conference. All nine are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. 

The justices had been holding their conferences over the phone since last March, and their last in-person meeting was March 6, 2020.

The meeting comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rolled out new guidance saying that fully vaccinated people can safely gather together indoors without the need for masks. Five of the justices are over 65 years old, the age when experts say people are particularly susceptible to severe COVID-19 infections.

“The change in practice today is in keeping with recently released CDC guidelines regarding indoor gatherings of fully vaccinated people,” Arberg said.

Some justices still attended the conference remotely, but Arberg did not clarify how many or which. 

Still, the court is not expected to resume in-person arguments in the near future. The justices are scheduled to hear arguments in cases by phone through next month.