Despite controversy, Scalia addresses Tea Party Caucus event
Controversy surrounding GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann’s invitation to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to speak at a closed-door gathering of lawmakers hosted by the Tea Party Caucus did not keep the Court’s most senior associate justice away.
Yesterday Scalia spoke to about 50 members of Congress and members of their staff in a constitutional seminar. And though the event was closed to the press, attendees told the Washington Post that Scalia urged the audience to read up and “pay attention” to what their roles are – starting with the Federalist Papers.
“He said we should all get a copy of the Federalist Papers and read it, underline it and dog-ear it,” said Illinois Democrat Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who attended the event.
Though the meeting had been blasted by liberal groups who expressed concerns that Supreme Court justices’ participation in Tea Party events may create an appearance of bias, most participants said Scalia avoided hot-button topics and steered clear of issues that might land before the Court. Rather, Scalia basically conducted a law seminar, they said.
“This was a discussion at a very high level,” Schakowsky told the Post. “There were lots of Latin phrases being used.”
Still some lawmakers criticized Scalia’s participation. South Carolina Democrat Rep. James Clyburn told MSNBC’s Chris Jansing today that Scalia’s appearance at the event was inappropriate – even if it only creates an impression that Scalia backs conservatives’ agenda.
“I do believe that we have traditionally looked at the Supreme Court as being an impartial arbiter of differences,” Clyburn said. “If the public gets the feeling that the Supreme Court will not be impartial in its deliberations, that can lead to no good. …It’s just not good for the American people, and I think it was a horrible mistake for the justice to go to this Tea Party meeting.”
[...] Leading up to the event, speculation swirled as to which Supreme Court justices may skip President Barack Obama’s second annual address altogether, given last year’s controversy over Justice Samuel Alito’s reaction to the president’s criticism of the Citizens United case, and the recent rise in tensions between the Court some members of the other branches of government. [...]