Arthur Miller Deals Justice Scalia a Reverse Bench-Slap
Oh no he didn’t… Oh yes he did! Check out this account of yesterday’s Supreme Court argument, by the AP:
Longtime Harvard law professor Arthur Miller (at right)… was arguing on behalf of shareholders who want to sue companies for fraud. Miller is a frequent television commentator, prolific writer and possibly the inspiration for an abrasive professor in a popular account of life at Harvard.Justice Antonin Scalia and Miller were contemporaries at Harvard Law School in the late 1950s. Miller graduated in 1958, two years ahead of Scalia.
Scalia clearly was on the side of the companies, chiming in from time to time to make Miller’s difficult task a bit harder.
After one remark, Miller let loose: “Is that because you never met a plaintiff you really liked?”
OUCH. And it must have been ten times better in person:
There was laughter and an “ooh” from spectators. Justices Stephen Breyer and Clarence Thomas laughed for several seconds, even after arguments resumed.Miller, perhaps sensing he crossed a line, quickly added, “I took a liberty there with the justice.”
You sure did, Professor Miller — but it could have been worse. E.g.: “Yo mama is so stupid, she relies on legislative history!”
Scalia and Harvard Law Professor Trade Barbs in Court [AP via Law.com]
(20) Comments
Comments
Miller: "Is that because you never met a plaintiff you really liked?"
Scalia: "No, I've never met a tier 2 I really liked."
They both laugh heartily.
Or "Do you sodomize your wife?"
too bad they don't allow video
thing is--what man has a wife and doesn't sodomize her?
This rules. Scalia can suck a fart out of my ass. Potsy's too.
You quit reading too soon. Keep reading for three more pages, and you'll see that Scalia gets even.
MR. MILLER: No, I think they mean what a district judge honoring his Article III commission concludes after an intensive evaluation of the entirety of the complaint, looking for that strong inference, putting on his sort of motion to dismiss 12(b)(6) hat, says okay -
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Just okay?
MR. MILLER: No, I did not mean that. Don't take me literally on that. For heavens sakes, I'm from Brooklyn. I'm very colloquial. I'm very sorry about that.
JUSTICE SCALIA: Let me write that down. We should not take you literally. All right.
(Laughter.)
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Okay, you two are even now.
(Laughter.)
but was scalia's retort even half as funny as Miller's shot? forced laughter all around
Miller showing what a classless ass he is. This is shocking stuff.
Miller's not afraid of the pompouus biotches!
(not that he's not a real asshole for all I know)
Actually, neither comment was funny. Just lame.
That's one smart lawyer, making wisecracks at a justice in the Supreme Court. What an idiot. And a pompous ass.
I thought both comments were pretty funny. Miller's was slightly inappropriate but Scalia can handle it.
anus
Did Arthur Miller violate me?
40 USC 6134: No, I think your virtue is still intact. Miller's comment may have been rude, but it wasn't "threatening" or "abusive."
Miller is an ass.
Hey, leave the walking bobblehead alone!
foolish. but awesome.
I went to HLS, and everyone thought Miller was a pompous blowhard. All of that defensive crap about "being from Brooklyn" shows that he recognized how gratuitous his comment was, and he was forced to divert from advancing his argument to cover himself.