Most of the federal government is closed today, but Americans still have one branch of the government brave enough to show up to work in the face of Hurricane Sandy. The U.S. Supreme Court isn’t taking a break for any “frankenstorm,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts decided, and two oral arguments scheduled for today will take place, never minding the impending hell and high water.

The legal blog D.C. Dicta reports that the decision rested entirely upon Roberts, and one can only assume that the chief justice’s upbringing in the snowy depths of Buffalo, N.Y. has him looking at the rest of us as a bunch of ninnies.

Then again, the Supreme Court is a place built on precedent, and Roberts’ steeliness could have its roots in his predecessor’s disregard for severe weather. During a blizzard in winter 1996, then-Chief Justice William J. Rehnquist ordered that arguments go ahead, despite the fact that Justice John Paul Stevens couldn’t fly back from Florida, Justice David Souter arrived late, and other justices had to be escorted by snowmobile.

UPDATE: The justices might be toughing it out today, but not tomorrow. The Supreme Court is postponing oral arguments scheduled for today until Thursday, it said in a news release.