Antonin Scalia, Conferences / Symposia, Fabulosity, Federalist Society, J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Parties, Pictures, Samuel Alito

More About the Fabulous Fed Soc Fête

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At the Federalist Society festivities: Ryan Bounds, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy; Deputy Associate Attorney General John O’Quinn; and Susanna Dokupil, Assistant Solicitor General for the Office of the Attorney General of Texas.
Last week, the Federalist Society celebrated its 25th anniversary, with a black-tie gala at Union Station. The official ATL report, by Laurie Lin, is available here; the account of the Washington Post appears here (via the WSJ Law Blog).
Since we were there also, we figured we might as well add our two cents. Some random tidbits about the evening, along with a few more photos, after the jump.


Let’s start with the important stuff: the Union Station men’s room, where Justice Antonin Scalia and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson (4th Cir.) were spotted. Justice Scalia was not amused about having to wait in the long line to use the facilities: “There’s a special place in hell for whoever is responsible for this.” Judge Wilkinson, who was wearing a black Land’s End scarf (label up) over his tuxedo, was more patient. His Honor washed his hands when he was done, we’re happy to report.
Senator Larry Craig was not sighted in the men’s room, but that doesn’t mean the place was devoid of strangeness. A young man in a tuxedo was standing next to the sink, singing scales rather loudly. Were we supposed to tip him? He didn’t turn on the faucet for us.
(As it turned out, this fellow was a Federalist Society staffer who later sang the national anthem to begin the evening. That explains why he was practicing his singing — and guzzling honey, which is supposed to be good for the voice.)

President Bush, greeted by the adoring masses at the Federalist Society’s 25th Anniversary Gala, held at Union Station last week.
President Bush began speaking promptly at 7 p.m. We won’t discuss the substance of his remarks, which have been aptly summarized in the WaPo; we’ll just highlight his gaffes. The biggest was referring to Justice Antonin Scalia as “Anton Scalia,” which caused 1,800 Federalists to wince. More minor was referring to Judge Priscilla Owen (5th Cir.) as “Priscilla Owens” (with an extra “s” on the end).

The stunning Jennifer Goldstein, of the DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy. (She appeared in these pages last year as well.)
In addition to President Bush, numerous other luminaries spoke as well. Robert Bork, who was supposed to have spoken, was not there (and we couldn’t hear, in the less-than-acoustically-ideal Union Station, why he couldn’t make it). But two individuals whose Supreme Court confirmations turned out more auspiciously, Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel A. Alito, Jr., did address the group.
Justice Scalia told a cute story about how his grandson, when asked what grandpa does, responded: “He’s a Supreme Court jester!” Considering how Justice Scalia likes to ham it up at oral argument, and is officially the funniest justice, the kid may actually be on the mark about this.
Former Attorney General Meese spoke. His biggest laugh line occurred when he referred to the American Constitution Society as “a misnomer if I ever heard one.”
Justice Alito told a funny story about how, when he attended an early meeting of the Federalist Society back in the 1980’s, a friend who bumped into him there said something like: “Funny seeing you here — it’s like running into a friend at a bordello!” Justice Alito added that he had no personal knowledge of what that experience might be like.
Indeed. Who do you think he is — Senator David Vitter? Members of the noble Article III judiciary must not be confused with icky Article I types. But see Judge Samuel Kent.
P.S. The Alito story was amusing, but we think we had heard it before. Did SAA tell the same story at a past Fed Soc gala?

Federalists Relish Well-Placed Friends [Washington Post]
The Federalist Society 25th Anniversary Rager [WSJ Law Blog]
Earlier: A Night at the Federalist Society Birthday Bash

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