A) Gotta Make The Court Look Like One Big Happy Family

I’m trying to understand the theory that Justice Sotomayor is deliberately misleading us in order to protect the reputation of someone risking her life. I’m not buying it.

— OutOfContextQuoteHat (@Popehat) January 19, 2022

First, context:

Sotomayor, Gorsuch issue joint statement on masks in the courtroom. "Reporting that Justice Sotomayor asked Justice Gorsuch to wear a mask surprised us. It is false. While we may sometimes disagree about the law, we are warm colleagues and friends."

— Kimberly Robinson (@KimberlyRobinsn) January 19, 2022

And now a statement from Chief Justice Roberts: “I did not request Justice Gorsuch or any other Justice to wear a mask on the bench.”

— Kimberly Robinson (@KimberlyRobinsn) January 19, 2022

One of the most notable things about this situation is that three (!) Justices commented on the record. The Justices don't typically respond to a request for comment.

— Kimberly Robinson (@KimberlyRobinsn) January 19, 2022

B) This is not a hill Sotomayor (metaphorically) wants to die on.

C) Gorsuch still looks like an ass. Whether or not Roberts "ordered" it (and who is he to do so, frankly? First among equals, and he decides who writes opinions, but wearing masks on the bench?), is Gorsuch not adult enough to be sensitive to Sotomayor's risk, especially as he sits right next to her and knows why she's not attending hearings in person?

D) It is also possible Sotomayor doesn't want to take the risk, regardless (Masks are hardly foolproof). But the "warm colleagues and friends" language sounds like something is being frantically covered up.

E) Nina Totenberg defends her reporting:

Three Supreme Court justices issued statements Wednesday addressing an NPR story about relations among the justices. On Tuesday, NPR reported that Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a longtime diabetic, had indicated to Chief Justice John Roberts that because of the omicron surge, she did not feel safe being in a room with people who are unmasked, and that the chief justice "in some form asked the other justices to mask up."

 On Wednesday, Sotomayor and Gorsuch issued a statement saying that she did not ask him to wear a mask. NPR's report did not say that she did. Then, the chief justice issued a statement saying he "did not request Justice Gorsuch or any other justice to wear a mask on the bench." The NPR report said the chief justice's ask to the justices had come "in some form."

 NPR stands by its reporting.

The responses coming out of the Court all had a certain “Oh, shit, that didn’t do it!” quality. The responses all denied something the report didn’t say. Classic non-denial denials. And pretty clumsy ones.

F)

Update: https://t.co/xmpgD6SgGD

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) January 19, 2022

Even lawyers good at parsing statements can be bad at parsing PR.