Antonin Scalia, Books, Fabulosity, Parties, SCOTUS, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court

Scalia On Sotomayor: 'I Knew She'd Be Trouble'

Did the Wise Latina engage in unwise behavior at a Supreme Court party?

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For aficionados of books about the U.S. Supreme Court, 2014 has been a very good year. The past few months have brought us Uncertain Justice, by Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz; The Case Against the Supreme Court, by Erwin Chemerinsky; Scalia: A Court of One, by Bruce Allen Murphy; and American Justice 2014, by Garrett Epps. (Forthcoming on the fiction side in a few weeks: my very own Supreme Ambitions.)

One of the most eagerly anticipated of these books is Breaking In: The Rise of Sonia Sotomayor, by veteran SCOTUS reporter Joan Biskupic. She recently posted a juicy excerpt on Reuters, in which Justice Antonin Scalia is quoted saying of Justice Sotomayor, “I knew she’d be trouble.”

What prompted Nino to make this comment about Sonia? It has to do with allegations of the Wise Latina engaging in unwise behavior at a Supreme Court party….

Here’s part of the excerpt from Reuters (via Josh Blackman). The scene is the end-of-Term party at the Court:

As the skits [by law clerks] were ending, [Justice Sotomayor] sprang from her chair, turned to the law clerks and declared that, though their musical numbers were fine, they lacked a certain something. With that, a law clerk cued salsa music on a small portable player. Sotomayor began dancing.

She took quick steps forward, back and turned, then repeated it. The Cuban- and Puerto Rican-inspired rhythms were as new to this setting as the justice who was dancing to them. For her salsa partners, Sotomayor first grabbed a few law clerks, who, it was clear, had arranged it with her. Then she beckoned the justices, starting with Roberts.

Footloose at One First Street? If this were a movie, all the justices would joyfully be busting moves. But real life isn’t like the movies:

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A buttoned-down man who rarely shed his suit jacket at the court, Roberts was reluctant. He looked terribly uncomfortable. The audience was apprehensive. Traditionally, this was an event where the law clerks performed and the justices watched. Roberts decided to be a good sport. He got up and danced with her. Briefly….

As she sought out partners, nervous colleagues danced a bit, one by one, then retreated to their chairs. Justice Anthony Kennedy, six foot two and favoring dark suits with coordinated tie and pocket handkerchief, did a jitterbug-style move. Justice John Paul Stevens, the oldest at age 90, got up, too. But he felt as if he had two left feet and quickly sat down, happy to watch Sotomayor move on to other partners.

“Where’s Nino?” she shouted toward the back. Scalia started to shake his head. There was no way he was going to dance. But then he did, sort of. Justice Samuel Alito, tall and shy, looked even more awkward when Sotomayor got to him. He resisted.

But the rest of the audience was into the spectacle now. They were standing up, laughing and whooping. So Alito danced a little bit. Then Sotomayor went toward Ginsburg, whose husband, Martin, had died three days earlier after a long illness. She did not want to rise from her chair, but Sotomayor whispered that her late husband would have wanted her to dance. Ginsburg followed in a few steps. Then she put her hands up to Sotomayor’s face. Holding her two cheeks in her palms, Ginsburg said, “Thank you.”

Okay, that’s the Hollywood moment. Your casting suggestions for Sotomayor and Ginsburg are welcome in the comments. Now, time for the Scalia quip:

As the program closed and people began leaving the room, emotions were strong. It had been a difficult term, and Sotomayor’s enthusiasm was catching. Scalia, who could shake things up in his own way, joked as people passed him near the doorway, saying, “I knew she’d be trouble.”

So it sounds like his comment was good-natured. But, according to Biskupic, others found Sotomayor’s salsa to be too hot for their tastes:

[S]ome people were not as amused. They thought the new justice was calling too much attention to herself, revealing a self-regard that challenged more than the court’s decorum. One justice and one top court officer said separately that it was too much blurring of the lines between the clerks, who traditionally took the stage at the party, and the justices, who sat in judgment in the audience.

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In fairness, Justice Sotomayor isn’t the first justice ever to love attention and to draw it to herself. Over the years, the Supreme Court has had a fair number of limelight lovers — including, for example, Justice Scalia. Or Chief Justice Rehnquist, with those gold stripes on his robes. Or Justice Douglas, aka Wild Bill, who like Justice Sotomayor wrote a bestselling memoir and became a celebrity beyond the Court.

There are other fun tidbits in the Biskupic book besides the dancing incident. Here at Above the Law, we enjoyed this shout-out on page 221 (citing Staci Zaretsky’s Morning Docket):

These are just a few highlights from Biskupic’s buzz-worthy book. If you’d like to read more, you can order the book here.

(Ed. note: All links to books mentioned in this post are affiliate links.)

Sonia Sotomayor v. tradition: Can charisma move the court? [The Great Debate / Reuters]
Sotomayor SCOTUS Dance Party [Josh Blackman’s Blog]
Breaking In: The Rise of Sonia Sotomayor and the Politics of Justice [Amazon (affiliate link)]

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