[NYTr] Justice Has a Seizure; Justice Falls Down

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[What a metaphor for all of Bush's disastrous efforts to destroy the
US! ]


Reuters - Jul 30, 2007 10:57 pm
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN3043059520070731

Chief Justice Roberts has seizure, falls

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts suffered a
seizure and was taken to the hospital on Monday but a neurological
evaluation showed no cause for concern, a Supreme Court spokeswoman
said.

"Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. took a fall about 2 p.m. today near
his summer home in Maine after suffering what doctors describe as a
benign idiopathic seizure," court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said in a
statement.

Arberg said Roberts, 52, suffered minor scrapes in the fall but said he
was "fully recovered" from the incident. He will stay overnight at the
hospital as a precaution.

"He was taken by ambulance to Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport,
Maine, where he underwent a thorough neurological evaluation, which
revealed no cause for concern," Arberg said.

Roberts experienced a similar seizure in 1993, Arberg said.

Seizures occur because of sudden, abnormal electrical activity in the
brain. They can often cause a person's body to shake rapidly and
uncontrollably, but not all seizures cause convulsions, according to
Medline Plus Web site.

An idiopathic seizure is one that has no known cause. Most seizures
last from 30 seconds to two minutes and do not cause lasting harm,
Medline Plus said. Seizures can have many causes, including
medications, high fevers, head injuries and certain diseases.

Roberts is the youngest of the nine Supreme Court justices, who are all
appointed to life terms. He has no known medical conditions.

The chief justice was at his home near Port Clyde, Maine when he
suffered the seizure. The area around Port Clyde, midway up the coast
of Maine, is known as a summer vacation spot. Roberts and his wife,
Jane, purchased the home about a year ago.

The incident occurred during the Supreme Court's three-month summer
recess. If a justice was incapacitated while the court was in session,
the other eight would continue to hear cases and write rulings.

Roberts, a conservative, was appointed to the Supreme Court by
President George W. Bush. He took his seat on September 29, 2005,
succeeding William Rehnquist, who died of cancer.

Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, Bush's other appointment to the
court, helped push the court to the right in its just-ended term on
issues including abortion and race in schools.

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