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Chief Justice John Roberts Was Hospitalized In June After Falling, Injuring Head

Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts awaits the arrival of President Trump in the House of Representatives to deliver the State of the Union address in February. Roberts spent one night in the hospital in June after injuring his forehead in a fall.
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Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts awaits the arrival of President Trump in the House of Representatives to deliver the State of the Union address in February. Roberts spent one night in the hospital in June after injuring his forehead in a fall.

Chief Justice John Roberts was hospitalized overnight last month after a fall.

Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg told The Associated Press that Roberts, 65, was walking near his home on June 21 when he fell. He injured his forehead and received sutures. Roberts was kept at the hospital overnight "out of an abundance of caution."

The Washington Post first reported the injury, which it says took place at Chevy Chase Club, a country club in suburban Maryland.

Roberts was hospitalized in Maine in 2007 after a fall at his vacation home brought on by a seizure. Although he does not have any known medical conditions, Roberts suffered a similar unexplained seizure in 1993.

According to The Associated Press, Arberg said doctors had "ruled out a seizure" as the cause of Roberts' most recent fall, instead saying it "was likely due to light-headedness caused by dehydration."

Roberts' fall took place three days before the Supreme Court announced its 5-4 decision blocking the Trump administration's attempts to roll back the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program protecting 700,000 immigrants called DREAMers from deportation. Roberts wrote the court's majority opinion.

The Supreme Court still has several cases remaining before its summer break. Justices have been meeting remotely since May to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection during the pandemic. During that time, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg revealed she had been hospitalized to undergo nonsurgical treatment for a gallbladder condition. She participated in oral arguments by phone from The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she spent one night before being discharged.

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