On the evening of March 20, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito fell ill during an event in Philadelphia, according to a spokesperson for the Supreme Court. Alito, who is 76 years old, agreed with his security detail’s suggestion to see a physician before embarking on a three-hour drive back home, out of caution. He underwent an examination and received treatment for dehydration before returning home as planned.
The spokesperson confirmed that Alito’s personal physician thoroughly checked him and he was back to work the following Monday for oral argument sessions. Despite the health scare, Alito has been present for all oral arguments, including one on the issue of birthright citizenship.
It was reported by CNN on Friday that Alito had been taken to the hospital the previous month, an incident that had not been disclosed earlier. Since his appointment in January 2006 by President George W. Bush, Alito has been serving on the Supreme Court as one of the six conservative justices. The other conservative justices include Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Notably, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett were nominated to the court by former President Donald Trump during his first term. There have been speculations about retirements of justices during Trump’s potential second term, with a particular focus on Alito and Thomas.
In recent years, some of the sitting justices have faced health issues, such as Thomas being hospitalized for flulike symptoms in 2022 and Roberts briefly being hospitalized in 2020 after sustaining a forehead injury from a fall. Additionally, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away in September 2020 due to complications from metastatic pancreas cancer.
In a significant development in 2022 during President Joe Biden’s administration, Justice Stephen Breyer became the most recent justice to retire from the Supreme Court. President Biden nominated Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as Breyer’s successor.
