Obama vs. Alito: Political dust-up during State of the Union

“The court’s legitimacy is derived from the persuasiveness of its opinions and the expectation that those opinions are rendered free of partisan, political influences,” former New Jersey Supreme Court justice Peter G. Verniero told the New York Times. “The more that individual justices are drawn into public debates, the more the court as an institution will be seen in political terms, which was not the intent of the founders.”

Not surprisingly, advocates on the left and right made what they could of the moment.

“The President’s swipe at the Supreme Court was a breach of decorum, and represents the worst of Washington politics – scapegoating ‘special interest’ bogeymen for all that ails Washington in an attempt to silence the diverse range of speakers in our democracy,” huffed Bradley A. Smith, chairman of the conservative Center for Competitive Politics.

Over at the more-liberal Salon site, Glenn Greenwald accused Alito of “flamboyantly insinuating himself into a pure political event, in a highly politicized manner.”

Breach of protocol?

He wrote: “The behavior of Justice Alito – visibly shaking his head and mouthing the words ‘not true’ when Obama warned of the dangers of the Court’s Citizens United ruling – was a serious and substantive breach of protocol that reflects very poorly on Alito and only further undermines the credibility of the Court.”

In a way, Obama wasn’t speaking directly to the court (which would have been petty and non-productive – the justices aren’t going to reverse themselves just because he speaks harshly to them) but to Congress. The president and boosters of campaign finance law want lawmakers to pass something that can limit campaign contributions by corporations while also passing constitutional muster with the high court.

In the wake of the court’s recent decision, Democrats are hustling to craft legislation that would limit corporate political advertising – especially for corporations with foreign connections.

If such legislation is ever signed into law, it’ll be fun to watch as it goes to the Supreme Court (which it surely would) – especially to see what Justice Alito would have to say about it.

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