Absence of Three Conservative Judges From State of the Union Address Turns Political

Published on March 9, 2024

Three of the Supreme Court’s most conservative justices were conspicuously absent from President Joe Biden’s State of the Union (SOTU) address. The no-shows of Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett, and Samuel Alito followed just one week after the high court agreed to review the argument by former President Donald Trump that he has immunity against prosecution for allegedly inciting an insurrection at the United Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The acceptance of the case was followed by an order from the court to stay the Court of Appeals ruling rejecting President Trump’s claim of prosecutorial immunity until oral arguments can be heard....