Supreme Court spokesperson Kathy Arberg confirmed on Tuesday night that Chief Justice John Roberts was hospitalized in June after he fell and suffered a head wound.
“The Chief Justice was treated at a local hospital on June 21 for an injury to his forehead sustained in a fall while walking for exercise near his home,” Arberg said in a statement. “The injury required sutures, and out of an abundance of caution, he stayed in the hospital overnight and was discharged the next morning.”
Though Roberts has had seizures two times in the past, Arberg stated that the hospital physicians had ruled out a seizure as the cause of the chief justice’s fall.
“They believe the fall was likely due to light-headedness caused by dehydration,” the spokesperson said.
Roberts was admitted to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, according to CNN. He was reportedly at the Chevy Chase Club when he fell.
Though the incident occurred more than two weeks ago, the Supreme Court did not publicly disclose Roberts’ hospitalization until Tuesday when the Washington Post, which had been privately tipped off about it, reached out.
Arberg told CNN the chief justice’s injury was “not significant” and therefore did not need to be announced at the time.
In contrast, the Supreme Court had issued a press release on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s “benign” gallstone infection on the day she was admitted to the hospital on May 5.
