WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court avoided a catastrophic accident last year when an enormous piece of marble at least two feet in length crashed to the ground…
The Supreme Court avoided a catastrophic accident last year when an enormous piece of marble at least two feet in length crashed to the ground in an interior courtyard used by the justices and their aides, according to several Supreme Court employees.
The incident, which the court still fails to acknowledge publicly, took place in the tense spring of 2022, as the court already was dealing with death threats and other security concerns and the justices were putting the final touches on their stunning decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Justice Elena Kagan and her law clerks had been in the courtyard earlier in the day, the employees said.
No one was injured when the marble fell, the employees said. The piece was easily big enough to have seriously injured someone, they said. It was much larger than the basketball-sized chunk that fell near the court’s front entrance in 2005.
The weight of the marble that fell is unknown, but the Georgia marble used in the court’s four interior courtyards weighs about 170 pounds per cubic foot, according to Polycor, which owns the quarry that provided the marble.
