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Neil Gorsuch’s Call For Civility Was Always Just For Show – Above the Law

(Photo
by
Chip
Somodevilla/Getty
Images)

This
information
probably
does
not
surprise
Supreme
Court
watchers

like
even
a
little
bit

but,
Neil
Gorsuch
is
a
real
jerk
of
a
coworker.


Folks
have
noted

that
since
the
omicron
COVID
surge,
Neil
Gorsuch
was
the
only
Supreme
Court
justice
not
to
mask
up
during
oral
arguments.
And
we’ve
also
noted
that
Sonia
Sotomayor,
who
has
type
1
diabetes
and
is
over
65
(both
risk
factors
for
COVID
complications),
was
participating
in
Court
business
virtually.

Turns
out
you
are
100%
correct
to
assume
those
facts
are
related.
And
Gorsuch
has
refused
to
mask
up
despite
being
specifically
asked
to
do
so
by
the
Chief
Justice,

as
reported
earlier
today

by
Nina
Totenberg:

Now,
though,
the
situation
had
changed
with
the
omicron
surge,
and
according
to
court
sources,
Sotomayor
did
not
feel
safe
in
close
proximity
to
people
who
were
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
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.

Now

Gorsuch
is
trending
on
Twitter

as
his
asshole
status
comes
into
focus:

The
eye-popping
super
irony
here,
of
course,
is
that
GORSUCH
HAS
WRITTEN
A
BOOK
ON
CIVILITY.
He
recounted
a
story
in
the
book
that
his
wife’s
grandmother
told
him
he’d
never
be
sorry
for
being
kind.
I
guess
that
was
all
lip
service
until
he
could
use
a
stolen
lifetime
appointment
to
stick
it
to
an
elderly
immunocompromised
coworker!

But
really,

the
one

that
gets
me
is

Gorsuch’s
reported

fondness
for
a
particular
rule
of
civility
that
George
Washington
is
said
to
have
written
as
a
child:

And
[Gorsuch]
notes
that
George
Washington
had
to
copy
by
hand
all
110
rules
of
civility
that
were
written
by
the
Jesuits
in
1595.
In
the
interview,
Gorsuch
paraphrased
one
rule
that
he
particularly
liked.

“Do
not
speak
so
closely
to
another
person
with
such
enthusiasm
that
you
bedew
the
other
man
with
your
spittle,”
he
said,
from
a
safe
distance.
“It’s
a
good
rule.
It’s
a
good
rule.”

You
know
what
else
helps
with
that
spittle
problem?
A
goddamned
mask.




Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of

The
Jabot
podcast
,
and
co-host
of

Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer
.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email

her
 with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
(@Kathryn1).