Image by The Higgs Boson via FlickrAntonin Scalia charms Tea Party caucus - Simmi Aujla - POLITICO.comJustice Antonin Scalia steered cleared of hot-button legislation during his closed-door talk hosted by the Tea Party caucus on Capitol Hill Monday night that attracted 50 members of Congress, including three Democrats.
“We were delighted with Justice Scalia,” said chair of the caucus Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). “Both Democrats and Republicans stood up and asked questions of the justice. And he gave freely of his time.”
Scalia, the intellectual leader of the Supreme Court’s conservative wing, charmed the crowd with his wit during his hour-long presentation, which included the history of the relationship between Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidency. He urged members to read the Federalist Papers to understand the founding fathers’ intentions. He also took questions from the crowd.
“He has a very dry wit, and it was on display today,” Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said.
Members who attended said the Supreme Court justice didn’t touch any major legislation passed recently that could come up for judicial review, like the health care reform law.
Bachmann praised Scalia for talking to members and noted that he took questions from both Democrats and Republicans.
About 50 members attended the event in all, only three were Democrats — Reps. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.). Nadler and Watt are members of the House Judiciary panel.
Though he steered clear of any current legislation, Scalia did answer a question about earmarks. Scalia said that Congress can control where federal dollars go through earmarks, or forgo earmarks and allow the president to have more control over how money is spent, according to Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas).
Scalia’s appearance hasn’t gone without criticism.
University of Maryland law professor Sherrilyn Ifill called the event “grossly inappropriate.”
“Federal judges should refrain from conduct that undermines the appearance of impartiality,” she wrote in POLITICO Arena on Monday. “But as Scalia revealed in his belligerent defense of his duck-hunting trip with then-Vice President Dick Cheney, he is unconcerned with the public’s perception of the judiciary. He has become the “in your face” justice, wearing his political conservatism on his sleeve.”
The New York Times said in an editorial last month that Scalia should reject the invitation from Bachmann or risk his reputation as an impartial judge.
“By meeting behind closed doors, as is planned, and by presiding over a seminar, implying give and take, the justice would give the impression that he was joining the throng — confirming his new moniker as the ‘Justice from the Tea Party,’ “ the editorial board wrote.
It’s not uncommon for members of the high court to speak to members of Congress. Last Wednesday, Justice Stephen Breyer spoke privately to the House Judiciary Committee at a bipartisan retreat to encourage communication between Republicans and Democrats. In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor spoke to the Congressional Caucus on the Judicial Branch. The caucus, led by Reps. Judy Bigger (R-Ill.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), has heard from nine justices since 2003.
Former White House counsel Ed Gillespie compared Scalia’s appearance to Thurgood Marshall talking to the Congressional Black Caucus in the 1990s.
“I thought that was a good thing then and I think this is a good thing now,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
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