Supreme Court issues statement that Justice Alito was hospitalized approximately two weeks ago

Justice Samuel Alito was hospitalized on March 20 “[o]ut of an abundance of caution” and at the recommendation of his security detail, the Supreme Court’s Public Information Officer, Patricia McCabe, said in a statement released to reporters on Friday afternoon. The statement came in response to inquiries prompted by a story by CNN’s Joan Biskupic, who reported on Friday that Alito “was taken to a hospital after becoming ill last month at a Federalist Society dinner in Philadelphia.” McCabe’s statement did not indicate whether doctors had provided Alito with a diagnosis or, if they had, what that diagnosis was.

On March 20, the justices took the bench in the morning to issue the court’s opinion in a case that was argued late last year. Alito did not join his colleagues; as is often the case when a justice is absent, the court did not provide an explanation for his absence.

Later that day, during the Federalist Society dinner in Philadelphia, McCabe’s statement indicated, Alito “felt ill” and “agreed with his security detail’s recommendation to see a physician before the three-hour drive home. After that examination and the administration of fluids for dehydration, he returned home that night, as previously planned. Justice Alito was thoroughly checked by his own physician,” McCabe said, “and he returned to work the following Monday for oral argument.”

Alito, who turned 76 on Wednesday, was nominated by President George W. Bush and joined the court on Jan. 31, 2006. He has consistently been one of the court’s most conservative members. In recent months, there has been considerable speculation about the prospect that Alito will retire, giving President Donald Trump the opportunity to nominate a fourth justice to the court, but Alito himself has given no indication that he intends to step down.