In this Nov. 30, 2018, file photo, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court gather for a formal group portrait. Seated from left: Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr. Standing behind from left: Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan and Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
By Mark Sherman
The Supreme Court said Monday it will hold arguments by teleconference in May in key cases, including President Donald Trump's bid to shield his tax and other financial records.
The court will make live audio of the arguments available for the first time. It had previously postponed courtroom arguments for March and April because of the coronavirus.
The justices and the lawyers arguing the cases all will participate remotely. The court said a live audio feed will be provided to news organizations.
The court has never live-streamed courtroom arguments and only rarely has it made the audio available on the same day.
Six of the nine justices are 65 and older, at higher risk of getting very sick from the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, and Stephen Breyer, 81, are the oldest members of the court.
The only other time Supreme Court arguments have been held outside the 85-year-old court building was in October 2001, when anthrax was detected in the court mailroom. That led the justices to hold arguments in the federal courthouse about a half mile from the Supreme Court, but only for one week.
In 1918, when the court still met inside the Capitol, arguments were postponed for a month because of the flu pandemic. Smallpox outbreaks in the late 1700s also caused postponement of court business.
Melania Trump says it’s “heartbreaking” to see teens grapple with the fallout after they’re targeted by malicious and sexually explicit online content.
The Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her government is not ruling out filing a civil lawsuit against Google if it maintains its stance of calling the stretch of sea between northeastern Mexico and the southeastern United States the “Gulf of America.” Sheinbaum, in her morning press conference on Thursday, said the president’s decree to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico is restricted to the “continental shelf of the United States” because Mexico still controls much of the body of water. “We have sovereignty over our continental shelf,” she said.
