Scalia: I Won't Go to Obama's State of The Union

[spanone]

fuck you tony


The list of Supreme Court justices that won't be attending President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday has one more member.

Justice Antonin Scalia told The Hill on Monday that that he hasn't "gone to the State of the Union in at least 10 years, and I'm not starting tomorrow night either."

This should come as no surprise. The conservative justice told CBSNew.com legal analyst Jan Crawford in an interview at the Federalist Society dinner last fall not to expect him. "It is a juvenile spectacle, and I resent being called upon to give it dignity," he said. "It's really not appropriate for the justices to be there."

Still, there has been much speculation about which members of the high court might be no-shows at the annual speech after Mr. Obama last year used the platform to blast the court's decision on campaign finance reform.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20029451-503544.html

[KansDem]

1. Well, since it isn't a secret, behind-closed-doors-type of meeting to placate...

...astroturfed Tea Baggers or a campaign rally for a conservative, then I guess he won't.

[northoftheborder]

6. "Not Appropriate" to attend State of Union? But is appropriate to...

.....speak at private prtisan events? This man should be impeached. He doesn't care, and is spitting in the nation's face. He is out of control, literally and figuratively.

[BonnieJW]

19. Clarence too.

He put down "None" for the last 20 years regarding his wife's income. It's not like it was an oversight; he had to actually write down the word "none."

[atreides1]

55. But...

...it was a misunderstanding, for 20 years.

[SugarShack]

22. Yes, but okey dokey to attend the Koch strategy meetings? Great opp to make noise of this again.

[SugarShack]

23. And here is the list to make your calls!

Majority Office
Phone:[phone]
Fax:[phone]

Minority Office
Phone:[phone]
Fax:[phone]

Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts
Majority Office
Phone:[phone]
Fax:[phone]

Minority Office
Phone:[phone]


Senate Judiciary Committee members:

Patrick J. Leahy
Chairman, D-Vermont

Herb Kohl
D-Wisconsin

Jeff Sessions
Ranking Member, R-Alabama

Dianne Feinstein
D-California

Orrin G. Hatch
R-Utah

Russ Feingold
D-Wisconsin

Chuck Grassley
R-Iowa

Arlen Specter
D-Pennsylvania

Jon Kyl
R-Arizona

Chuck Schumer
D-New York

Lindsey Graham
R-South Carolina

Dick Durbin
D-Illinois

John Cornyn
R-Texas

Benjamin L. Cardin
D-Maryland

Tom Coburn
R-Oklahoma

Sheldon Whitehouse
D-Rhode Island

Amy Klobuchar
D-Minnesota

Ted Kaufman
D-Delaware

Al Franken
D-Minnesota

From Wikianswers:
Grounds for impeachment: Article III, Section 1 states that judges of Article III courts shall hold their offices "during good behavior." "The phrase "good behavior" has been interpreted by the courts to equate to the same level of seriousness 'high crimes and misdemeanors" encompasses.

The process: The Impeachment Process
Impeachment is a two-step process; the impeachment phase is similar to a Grand Jury hearing, where charges (called "articles of impeachment") are presented and the House of Representatives determines whether the evidence is sufficient to warrant a trial. If the House vote passes by a simple majority, the defendant is "impeached," and proceeds to trial in the Senate.

The Senate trial, while analogous to a criminal trial, only convenes for the purpose of determining whether a Justice, the President (or another officeholder) should be removed from office on the basis of the evidence presented at impeachment.

At the trial a committee from the House of Representatives, called "Managers," act as the prosecutors. If any other official, other than the president, is on trial, an "Impeachment Trial Committee" of Senators act as the presiding judges to hear testimony and evidence against the accused, which is then presented as a report to the remainder of the Senate. The full Senate no longer participates in the hearing phase of the removal trial. This procedure came into practice in 1986 when the Senate amended its rules and procedures for impeachment and has been contested by several federal court judges, but the Supreme Court has declined to interfere in the process, calling the issue a political, not legal, matter.

At the conclusion of the trial, the full Senate votes and must return a two-thirds Super Majority for conviction. Convicted officials are removed from office immediately and barred from holding future office.

House Judiciary
2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
p/202-225-3951


Dem members

Hon. Conyers Jr.
Chairman
(D) Michigan, 14th


Hon. Berman
(D) California, 28th


Hon. Boucher
(D) Virginia, 9th


Hon. Nadler
(D) New York, 8th


Hon. Scott
(D) Virginia, 3rd


Hon. Watt
(D) North Carolina, 12th


Hon. Lofgren
(D) California, 16th


Hon. Jackson Lee
(D) Texas, 18th


Hon. Waters
(D) California, 35th


Hon. Delahunt
(D) Massachusetts, 10th


Hon.. Cohen
(D) Tennessee, 9th


Hon. Johnson
(D) Georgia, 4th


Hon. Pierluisi
(D) Puerto Rico, Resident Commissioner


Hon. Quigley
(D) Illinois, 5th


Hon. Chu
(D) California, 32nd


Hon. Deutch
(D) Florida, 19th


Hon. Gutierrez
(D) Illinois, 4th


Hon. Baldwin
(D) Wisconsin, 2nd


Hon. Gonzalez
(D) Texas, 20th


Hon. Weiner
(D) New York, 9th


Hon. Schiff
(D) California, 29th


Hon. Sánchez
(D) California, 39th


Hon. Maffei
(D) New York, 25th


Hon. Polis
(D) Colorado, 2nd

[catabryna]

39. Uh...

Part of this list is pre- January 5, 2011.

[highplainsdem]

10. +1

[Bandit]

2. Thje USA should be so very proud of this man.....

Do I need the sarcasm thingy? :sarcasm:

[abluelady]

3. Obviously...

Another Republican who wants to bring civility to our country!

[ensho]

4. good - he won't stink up the place then

nt

[el_bryanto]

5. Of all the awful things this guy has done, this is by far the worst

I mean I'll bet if Bush were the President, He'd be doing cartwheels down the aisle!

Oh wait, it says he hasn't gone in the last 10 years.

Maybe he just doesn't like crowds?

Bryant

[TwilightGardener]

7. Who the hell thinks this corrupt asshole gives ANY event "dignity"?

Little full of yourself there, aren't ya?

[gateley]

8. Yeah, you're the one I'd call if I need to lend some "dignity", Scalia.

:eyes:

[sharp_stick]

9. Good, someone else may be able

to get to the buffet table tonight.

This guy and his buddy Clarence are the biggest embarrassment to the American judiciary has seen since the days of Roger Taney. Actually I think Taney would have fit in pretty nicely with Fat Tony and Silent Clarence.

[Frustratedlady]

11. Wasn't he one of the SC judges who attended a Koch meeting of the minds?

Shows where his interests lie.

[harun]

27. He doesn't want to hang out with the under paid peasants in Congress.

Only billionaire's are worthy of Scalia's presence.

[eShirl]

12. NOBODY would call on SCALIA to give the State of the Union speech DIGNITY.

[Johonny]

15. +1

[Judi Lynn]

13. Stunningly odd thought that his presence would "give it dignity."

It's simply impossible, I'm afraid, considering what he has to work with.

What a shocking delusion he has concerning his own character, so long after he lost it, if he ever even had it.

[Octafish]

14. Mobster.

One of da boys. Yeah, shee?

[hootinholler]

34. I can see him saying

Leave the gun, grab the cannoli.

I wonder what his mob name is? Tony Goomba?

-Hoot

[av8rdave]

16. First correct thing that jerk has ever done!

He lends the event dignity by NOT showing up!

[otohara]

17. Elitist Much?

Gawd what a dick.

[LoZoccolo]

18. What he calls a "juvenile spectacle" is mandated by the U. S. Constitution.

And he's refusing to "give it dignity". Nice.

[spanone]

21. yep, the president has no choice.....it's a constitutional requirement

[orwell]

28. So much for the...

..."strict constructionist."

+1

[LoZoccolo]

75. I can already see how he'd reconcile that with this.

"Well, technically it never says I have to be there."

[wtmusic]

30. Amen, and any garden-variety Originalist ought to know it too

Scalia is a garden-variety POS

[NYC Liberal]

31. Technically, he could send Congress a letter

or give the speech from the Oval Office and send them a transcript.

Wouldn't matter though, because Tony would find a way to criticize THAT.

[Arkana]

54. True.

If he bought Congress a subscription to TIME Magazine he'd have fulfilled his Constitutional duties.

[Hubert Flottz]

20. I'm sure the shitflies will be devastated.

[Myrina]

24. Then he should be recalled or impeached ...

... dereliction of duty.

Or, just being a derelict, in his case. :freak:

[onenote]

33. if not attending the SOTU is a dereliction of duty, you'd have to impeach a lot of justices

including Justice Ginsburg, who skipped the SOTU from 2000 through 2008. Stevens and Souter almost never attended either. Its not a requirement and there is a reasonable case to be made that the Justices should stay away from what has become an overtly political event.

[Myrina]

59. It's not an 'overtly political event' ...

... it's like a freakin annual board meeting, required by the Constitution.

Jeez. Get your undies out of their bundle already! :eyes:

[onenote]

62. I tend to agree with Justice Stevens

who explained that he chose not to attend because it was apolitical event.
http://sbmblog.typepad.com/sbm-blog/2010/03/justice-stevens-weighs-in-on-state-of-the-union-attendance.html

Yes giving a state of the union message to the Congress is a constitutional requirement, but its become a political event and its foolish to pretend otherwise. I hated it when the repubs turned it into a cheerfest during the Reagan years and while the payback we got when Clinton took office was sweet, it doesn't change the fact that the partisan cheering etc has changed the nature of the event.

Put another way, if its not a political event, why do both parties insist on giving a "response" to the SOTU when its delivered by a president of the other party?

Finally, I think the folks with their undies in a bundle are the ones exprssing poutrage at the fact that Alito, Thomas and Scalia are skipping the SOTU when skipping the SOTU is something that many justices have done over the past 20 years, including progressive justices like Stevens and Ginsburg.

[Stinky The Clown]

25. Hey Nino . . . .

. . . . you won't be missed. Stay home and self flagellate. You'll feel better.

Clean the carpet when you're done.

[spanone]

29. perhaps he'll attend michele bachmanns rebuttal....?

[NYC Liberal]

26. It's the Republicans who have been making it a "juvenile spectacle"

From Bush's nonstop lying in every one of his to the Republicans waving around pieces of paper during the speech to Joe Wilson's heckling.

[onenote]

32. sadly, the SOTU has at times been a juvenile spectacle

The cheering and constant standing ovations by one party or the other (a practice that I believe started in the Reagan years) is pretty juvenile.

Not surprisingly, a number of SCOTUS justices have made it a practice to stay away from the SOTU over the past couple of decades. Breyer always attends, but while they were on the court, Stevens and Souter generally made it a practice not to come. Ginsburg skipped the SOTU from 2000 through 2009. Thomas attended during the Clinton years but hasn't been there since 1999. Kennedy has been there about half the time.


OBAMA PRESIDENCY:
2010: Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor
2009: Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Thomas


BUSH PRESIDENCY:
2008: Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Kennedy
2007: Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Kennedy
2006: Roberts, Thomas, Breyer, Alito
2005: Stevens, Breyer
2004: Breyer
2003: Breyer
2002: Kennedy, Breyer
2001: Breyer

CLINTON PRESIDENCY:
2000: None (due to illnesses and travel conflicts)
1999: O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsberg, Breyer
1998: Rehnquist, O'Connor, Souter, Thomas, Breyer
1997: Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsberg, Breyer, White (retired)
1996: Rehnquist, O'Connor, Kennedy, Thomas, Ginsberg, Breyer
1995: Rehnquist, O'Connor, Scalia, Ginsberg, Breyer, Blackmun (retired

[merh]

43. Scalia and juvenille spectacle go hand in hand

[suston96]

35. Up where.....?

[snooper2]

36. A lot of DU'ers are opting out as well apparently..

[The Backlash Cometh]

37. King Scalia.

I bet he would be there under a Republican president.

[former9thward]

58. He skipped all the Bush years. Last time he was there was in 1997.

[The Backlash Cometh]

60. No kidding?

That's interesting. He really is King Scalia.

[onenote]

76. so not attending makes him "King Scalia"?

what does that make Justices Souter and Stevens, who also routinely skipped the SOTU?

[The Backlash Cometh]

79. What's their excuse?

I can only Judge Scalia based on everything I know about him. His arrogance runneth over. The other two are more reserved so their actions don't seem quite so calculated.

Perceptions. People talk about how perceptions are an important part of public life, but, since no one ever gets held accountable, it's just one of those things that doesn't seem to amount to a hill of beans.

[onenote]

80. Stevens refused to go because he felt the SOTU had become a "political" event

Pretty much the same reason that Scalia hasnt attended since 1997 (and the reason Thomas has given for his non attendance since the late 1990s). I have not found anything indicating why Souter didn't attend, although the safe bet would be that it was for the same reason that the others elected not to go. The sad fact is that the SOTU has become political theater, starting during the Reagan years when the repubs began the practice of acting like a bunch of sports fans cheering their star performer. While it was satisfying to get some payback when the Democrats did the same thing during the Clinton years, the net result has been to cheapen the event. While I don't take issue with those members of the Court that consistently choose to attend, neither do I take exception to those who consistently choose to stay away.

[The Backlash Cometh]

81. You have a well-reasoned counter point.

I admit mine is tainted with a strong dislike for Scalia.

[Mz Pip]

65. That's what I was wondering

So at least he is being consistant.

[suston96]

38. Dupe

Delete dupe......

[The_Commonist]

40. Actually, I agree with Fat Tony...

..it IS a juvenile spectacle.
I long for the days when the president submitted his report to Congress in writing.

[Nye Bevan]

45. I agree. All the "who clapped when" nonsense tends to wear thin (nt)

[wtmusic]

47. Not at all.

It identifies progress. It identifies work that needs to be done. It does it in a direct fashion - no press releases, no loaded questions. It requires personal interaction with members of Congress of both parties. It requires interaction between members of Congress of both parties.

You deny the importance of personal interaction in government. SOTU may be the only occasion where lawmakers are not allowed to hide in their offices and design ways to circumvent each other's designs.

[WinkyDink]

41. Oh, there's something JUVENILE, Fat Tony, ..........

[UTUSN]

42. *HE* gives "it dignity"?!1 n/t

[muntrv]

44. Tony: "I'd rather be teabagging."

[Buns_of_Fire]

46. No one wants to sit with him? nt

[deminks]

48. Well good, 'cause I don't want the chance to see your corrupted face on my teevee

either. Bet if one of the Thugs was president, you would go in a heartbeat, 'specially if it were one of your new BFF's in the Teabagger party.

[DainBramaged]

49. More reason to suspect him of prejudice in ALL aspects of his decision making

president Obama is still HIS FUCKING PRESIDENT, and he disgraces the office by sitting home.

Stupid fuck.

[BanzaiBonnie]

50. He's a pig, and I don't say that lightly...

I don't want to insult pigs.

He's grubbing around under the feet of certain folks, feeding off the scraps that fall from their table. He thinks they like him but as soon as he's no longer useful, they would drop him and never allow him to their doorstep ever again.

Another useful tool.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

51. "he hasn't gone to the State of the Union in at least 10 years"

If this is true then I don;t see the big deal. I wouln't want to go either. The last ~20 years, the SOTU has been nothing but big circlejerk with everyone clapping and cheering every 30 seconds. The president could drop a deuce on the podium and the crowd would still clap on que.

SOTU = lame propoanda.

[onenote]

57. Actually, he hasn't gone since 1997

And he's hardly alone in skipping the SOTU. During the chimpy years in particular attendance was pretty hit or miss.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/02/24/obama-speech-scotus-in-the-house/

[patrice]

52. Being smart doesn't mean you're immune to pesonality disorders. nt

[Arkana]

53. How this sonofabitch is allowed to still serve

while being as nakedly partisan as he has been I do not know.

[Javaman]

56. As I have written before. 15 year term limits for the supreme court members...

I'll explain.

Right now, we all have a rough idea when various members of the Supreme Court will retire.

And on top of that, the mean time served by the member comes out to roughly 17 years.

So I rounded it down to 15.

It goes into effect from this point forward, thus staggering the appointments.

so if fat tony finally retires, then the next one to fill his shoes is limited to a 15 year term.

To me, it's long enough to effect change but no so long as to accrue so much power that it slants the courts.

It would also effectively keep the Constitution fresh and vibrant.

But hey, that's just me.

I also believe in term limits for the House members and Senators as well.

[zaj]

61. If he hasn't been in 10 years, then good for him.

For those who are skipping this year for the first time, screw you.

Either you don't go on principle, or you go no matter what. Just don't make it about "team".

Sounds like Scalia is being intellectually honest in this case. Good for him.

[ItNerd4life]

77. Agreed, he's being consistent. nt

[RedCloud]

63. Come on lightning bolt!

[malaise]

64. Good - go address the Teabaggers

Fuck off!

[Blue Owl]

66. To quote CeeLo Green:

Fuck you, and fuck Alito too

[Hannah Bell]

67. he didn't go to bush's either, apparently. do the justices typically go to sotu?

if not, i suspect the media is trying to drum up controversy.

[onenote]

68. its varied over the years. STevens, Souter, Scalia and THomas generally avoided it

Ginsburg attended during the Clinton years, skipped the chimpy years, and started going again in 2010. Here's the attendance record since 1995:

OBAMA PRESIDENCY:
2010: Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor
2009: Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Thomas


BUSH PRESIDENCY:
2008: Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Kennedy
2007: Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Kennedy
2006: Roberts, Thomas, Breyer, Alito
2005: Stevens, Breyer
2004: Breyer
2003: Breyer
2002: Kennedy, Breyer
2001: Breyer

CLINTON PRESIDENCY:
2000: None (due to illnesses and travel conflicts)
1999: O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsberg, Breyer
1998: Rehnquist, O'Connor, Souter, Thomas, Breyer
1997: Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsberg, Breyer, White (retired)
1996: Rehnquist, O'Connor, Kennedy, Thomas, Ginsberg, Breyer
1995: Rehnquist, O'Connor, Scalia, Ginsberg, Breyer, Blackmun (retired

[yellowcanine]

69. Well I don't think Tony is in any position to talk about what is "appropriate".

Given his eagerness to accept hunting dates with Dickhead Cheney and invitations to speak at partisan gatherings. Seems to me that the SOTU is way down on the list of what is inappropriate compared to those other situations.

[bdamomma]

70. childish attitude

well that means Alito and Scalia won't be there how about Roberts. What jerks.

[Canuckistanian]

71. LOL, Fat Tony is lecturing us on "propriety"?

Good one, Tony.

[Generic Other]

72. YAY...More donuts for everyone else!

Wow. This bowel movement thinks he lends dignity to any function of government?

[Autumn]

73. Autumn: Tony, I Won't Miss Seeing Your Fat Ass

One Bit. By the way, you couldn't give dignity to a cathedral, since you have none.

[joe the nerd]

74. I don't think he could get a date - i hear Eric Cantor can't find one...

[ItNerd4life]

78. The hate speech in this thread is sad. nt

[Maru Kitteh]

82. Tony, he contents of a thousand latrines would lend more dignity to the SOTU than you ever could.

There are objects in my cats litterbox with more dignity than you have ever had, or will.

[felix_numinous]

83. Judge Roberts

was already planning not to be at the next SOTU when President Obama chastised the Justices for '...reversing a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests-including foreign corporations-to spend without limit in our elections.' I loved him for saying that at the time.

http://floridapundit.com/2010/03/chief-justice-roberts-speaks-out-about-obamas-inappropriate-behavior-at-the-state-of-the-union-speech/