It's been a busy twenty-four hours. Yesterday evening, Steve Vladeck and I chatted about the emergency/shadow docket at the Georgetown Federalist Society. There was more agreement than you might expect. Remember, social media is not the real world.
After dinner with the students, where we talked about the new GULC Dean, I braced myself to watch the State of the Union address. In the past, my favorite part of the SOTU is when the Justices entered. Last night, the drama was about which Justices would attend. In the end, four showed up: Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Kagan, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. Justice Gorsuch, who has attended in recent years, was absent. Justices Thomas and Alito have not attended in years. Justice Sotomayor who has usually attended was not there. Justice Jackson attended when Biden was in office, but was not there last night. (All of the Justices made it to the bench this morning, so none were out of town; it was a choice to not attend.)
When the President entered the chamber, each of the Justices greeted him cordially. I couldn't make out anything that was said. If the Justices were bothered by Trump's remarks--as they should have been--they didn't show it. I give special extra credit to Justice Barrett, who displayed some serious self-control by pleasantly smiling when she talked to the President, and held that pose even as the camera lingered on her for a bit longer.
