Supreme Court meets in person for first time in more than a year

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The tradition-minded Supreme Court regained some sense of normalcy Friday morning as most of the justices met in person for the first time in more than a year, a court spokesperson said. 

It's the first in-person meeting for the high court since early March of last year, when the coronavirus pandemic shut down normal operations in Washington, D.C., and the rest of the country. 

Things aren't completely back to normal though as oral arguments for the rest of the term will still be conducted remotely by teleconference. 

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All of the Supreme Court justices are vaccinated, but it is unclear who didn't attend the in-person conference Friday. 

A court spokesperson noted that the change is consistent with the CDC's new guidelines on indoor gatherings for fully vaccinated people. 

Arguments will restart next week, with the justices set to hear six cases by phone through the end of this month and another dozen cases in April. 

Teleconference hearings have altered norms on the court, with Justice Clarence Thomas, who has gone years without asking questions during hearings, regularly chiming in on every argument. 

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The Supreme Court is also letting the public listen to oral arguments live, as opposed to recording the audio and releasing it days later, as was the case pre-pandemic. 

Friday also marked the first time that Justice Amy Coney Barrett met with her colleagues for official business in person since she replaced Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away last September. 

Fox News' Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report as did The Associated Press.