A last-minute scheduling change made it a little easier for two Supreme Court justices to atone for their sins this year.
For the first time in recent memory, the Supreme Court had been scheduled to hear oral arguments on Yom Kippur, which would have created a dilemma for the two Jewish justices.
The high court instead conducted administrative business and admitted new members to the bar of the Supreme Court that day. No reason was given for the scheduling change.
Neither Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg nor Justice Stephen Breyer was present in court on the day of Atonement. Information about how they spent the Jewish holiday was not available.
The court typically follows a preset schedule, convening during the first week of October, which coincided this year with Yom Kippur.
Court guidelines permit justices to miss a day’s arguments, provided that they bring themselves up to speed by reviewing transcripts.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
