The Supreme Court announced Friday it would be postponing oral arguments scheduled for the end of the month due to the continuing threat of the spread of COVID-19.
The court had already canceled hearing cases last month but has extended the postponement to the April arguments originally set to be held from April 20-29.
The justices may attempt to reschedule the cases to be heard before the end of the term in June, said a spokesperson from the high court. If that does not occur, other options will be explored.
Moving the hearings is quite rare, though it has happened in the past.
The court postponed arguments in 1918 during the Spanish flu epidemic. A court spokesperson also noted calendars at the court were changed in August 1793 and in 1798 over yellow fever.
Court staff is working remotely in some capacities to limit the number of people in the building, which has been closed to the public.
Some of the most-eyed cases that were scheduled during the period that has been postponed were disputes over congressional authority to subpoena banking documents and other private financial records from President Trump’s businesses, as well as a challenge over the validity of a subpoena out of New York to obtain the president’s tax returns.
The justices were also set to hear a case involving Google weighing the issue of copyright protection. There was also a First Amendment dispute scheduled to be argued involving employment discrimination cases brought against religious employers.
The Little Sisters of the Poor were also expected in court again over the fallout from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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