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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJustices skipping the State of the Union since 2010
Note Scalia missed #20 this year.
2016
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/three-conservative-supreme-court-justices-skip-state-of-the-union-2016/
<snip>
Three conservative justices on the Supreme Court were noticeably absent from President Obama's final State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia were not present in the House chamber as the rest of their colleagues filed in.
The trio also skipped the president's address last year and Scalia has missed the State of the Union more than a dozen times. In 2013, Scalia called the event "a childish spectacle."
On Tuesday, Chief Justices John Roberts attended Mr. Obama's final address as did Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer
2015
The wording in the Constitution is simple and straightforward: the President shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union. Theres nothing in there about the Supreme Court justices and, accordingly, theres nothing simple and straightforward about their attendance.
This year, six justices were in attendance, while three of the most conservative members of the court, Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, were noticeably absent. In the modern era, custom has held that the justices would show up in their official robes and sit impassively. But in recent years, theyve become more resistant to the tradition.
Justice Antonin Scalias absence is no surprise. It was the 19th State of the Union in a row that hes skipped since he considers the speech a childish spectacle.
2014
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/scotus-sotu
Four Supreme Court justices did not attend President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday.
Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotamayor were not in attendance for the speech.
Sotomayor is traveling -- she was in California on Monday judging moot court finals at the University of California Irvine Law School.
Scalia, Alito and Thomas have all skipped past State of the Union address and objected to attending the speech.
Scalia skipped the address for the 17th year in a row. Last year he called the State of the Union a "childish spectacle."
Alito in 2010 whispered "not true" when Obama criticized the Supreme Court's Citizen's United v. FEC decision, and the justice later he did not enjoy sitting "like the proverbial potted plant" during the speech.
Thomas said in 2012 that he does not attend the address because "it has become so partisan and it's very uncomfortable for a judge to sit there."
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Question - did Alito and Thomas attend all SOUs with ReTHUG Presidents?
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)I saw earlier today that President Obama said he would not attend Scalia's funeral on Saturday. Of course, no matter what he did, Obama would get a raft of shit from the usual quarters. But be ready to say that Obama might have been a little more willing to get to Scalia's service if Scalia could have made a little time for him.
malaise
(269,187 posts)Respect among the branches of government is long gone.
Brother Buzz
(36,469 posts)malaise
(269,187 posts)evilgrin: