Justice Thomas, 73, Released From Hospital After Weeklong Stay

Justice Clarence Thomas was released from a hospital Friday after a weeklong stay to treat an infection that was causing flu-like symptoms, the Supreme Court said.

Thomas 73, missed three days of arguments while hospitalized for longer than the court originally said was likely. The court said on Sunday, two days after he was admitted, that he expected to be released “in a day or two.”

Thomas is the second-oldest justice, behind only Stephen Breyer, 83, who is retiring at the end of the court’s current term. Thomas, a 1991 appointee of President George H.W. Bush, is the longest-serving justice and an anchor of the court’s conservative wing.

Thomas was treated at Washington’s Sibley Memorial Hospital with intravenous antibiotics, according to the court’s earlier statement.

In the new statement, Supreme Court spokeswoman Patrica McCabe said said only that Thomas “was discharged from the hospital earlier today.” She provided no additional information.

Thomas will be able to take part in the four arguments he missed using the briefs, transcripts and recordings of the courtroom sessions. Unlike other justices who have been absent while ill, he did not take part in those arguments remotely.

(Updates with excerpt from court spokeswoman’s statement in fifth paragraph.)

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Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net

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Elizabeth Wasserman at ewasserman2@bloomberg.net

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