根据周三发布的一份罕见的联合声明，最高法院法官索尼娅·索托马约尔没有要求她的同事、法官席上的同桌尼尔·戈尔苏奇在奥米克隆人激增期间戴口罩。
法官们在回应媒体关于不和的报道时坚称，他们仍然是“热情的同事和朋友”，尽管最近的头条新闻表明，戈尔苏奇无视戴口罩的要求，迫使索托马约尔回自己的房间，索托马约尔因糖尿病和67岁的高龄，患COVID的风险增加。
“据报道，索托马约尔法官要求戈尔苏奇法官戴口罩，这让我们感到惊讶。这是假的。虽然我们有时可能在法律上有分歧，但我们是热情的同事和朋友，”他们在一份罕见的联合声明中表示。
Win Mcnamee/Getty Images，FILE
最高法院助理法官尼尔·m·戈尔苏奇抵达第59届总统就职典礼
自1月初以来，索托马约尔出于健康考虑，没有与她的同事一起参加任何个人会议或私人会议。与此同时，她的同龄人开始一起戴口罩——有一个明显的例外:戈尔苏奇。
NPR的尼娜·托滕贝格据报告的周二，援引一位未透露姓名的消息人士的话称，首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨(John Roberts)曾鼓励他的同事在奥米克隆期间“以某种形式”掩盖真相。她表示，戈尔苏奇无视这一要求。
福克斯新闻频道的香农·布莱姆引用了另一个未透露姓名的消息来源，称这不是真的，罗伯茨没有提出任何要求，索托马约尔也从未问过戈尔苏奇本人。
罗伯茨后来发表了自己的声明，称“我没有要求戈尔苏奇法官或任何其他法官在法官席上戴口罩。”
他表示，他不会发表进一步评论。
根据法院的规定，所有的法官每天开会前都要接受提升和测试。
从10月到12月，所有9名大法官一起坐在法官席上——当时只有索托马约尔戴着口罩。她坐在一个没有面具的戈尔苏奇和斯蒂芬·布雷耶法官等人旁边。
今年1月，当他们重新召开会议时，大多数法官开始戴口罩——唯一的例外是戈尔苏奇。索托马约尔开始从钱伯斯拨打电话。
言外之意是，索托马约尔坐在未蒙面的戈尔苏奇旁边并不舒服，她和戈尔苏奇一直很友好，并在虚拟活动中一起出现。
她的办公室没有具体说明她远程参与的原因。
根据法庭规则，法庭上所有不是法官的人都必须戴上面具，接受测试。
Supreme Court Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch dispute having COVID mask flap
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor did not ask her colleague and seatmate on the bench, Justice Neil Gorsuch, to wear a mask during the omicron surge, according to a rare joint statement issued Wednesday.
The justices, addressing swirling media reports of discord, insist they remain "warm colleagues and friends" despite recent headlines suggesting Gorsuch had defied a request to mask up, forcing Sotomayor, who, because of her diabetes and her age -- 67 -- is at heightened risk of COVID, to retreat to her chambers.
"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," they said in a rare joint statement.
undefinedMORE: Supreme Court blocks Biden vaccine-or-test mandate for large businesses
Since early January, Sotomayor has not joined her colleagues for any in person proceedings or private meetings due to health concerns. At the same time, her peers began wearing masks while together -- with one notable exception: Gorsuch.
NPR's Nina TotenbergreportedTuesday, citing an unnamed source, that Chief Justice John Roberts had encouraged his colleagues "in some form" to mask up during omicron. She indicated that Gorsuch defied that request.
Fox News' Shannon Bream reports, citing a separate unnamed source, that's not true and that no request went out from Roberts and that Sotomayor never asked Gorsuch herself.
Roberts later out his own statement, saying, "I did not request Justice Gorsuch or any other Justice to wear a mask on the bench."
He indicated he will have no further comment.
All the justices are boosted and tested daily before meeting together, per the court.
From October through December, all nine justices convened on the bench together -- and only Sotomayor wore a mask at that time. She sat next to a maskless Gorsuch and Justice Stephen Breyer, among others.
In January, when they reconvened, most justices started wearing masks -- with sole exception being Gorsuch. Sotomayor started dialing in from chambers.
The implication has been the appearance that Sotomayor is not comfortable sitting next to unmasked Gorsuch -- with whom she's been friendly and appeared with jointly in virtual events.
Her chambers has not specified the reason for her remote participation.
Everyone else in the courtroom who's not a justice must be masked and must be tested, per court rules.
