Litigation

Justice Scalia Addresses Lawmakers

By Peter Hardin

Much of he fury over Justice Antonin Scalia’s speaking to the Tea Party Caucus of the U.S. House apparently subsided afterward.

In advance of the Supreme Court justice’s appearance Monday, some critics had raised a specter of “collusion” or concern about increased politicization of the high court (see Gavel Grab).

An invitation was extended to lawmakers outside the conservative group. Several Democrats attended, and one of them, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, said after the closed-door session, “There was nothing partisan here.? The Blog of Legal Times quoted Nadler as adding, ?It was Justice Scalia expressing his views.?

That blog paraphrased two of Justice Scalia’s  key tips to lawmakers as “be as specific as possible when writing legislation, and watch the boundaries set out by the Constitution.”

Nina Totenberg concluded for a NPR report that “on Monday night there appeared to be more fizzle than sizzle to the charge of unseemly partisanship by a Supreme Court justice.”

The justice avoided talking about hot-button legislation, according to Politico.

Full post as published by The Gavel on January 25, 2011 (boomark / email).