With a Sharp Tongue, Scalia Challenges the White House

In January, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of “high-handedness” during oral arguments in a property rights case. In March he mocked the administration’s legal reasoning in defending President Barack Obama’s health-care law, calling it “extraordinary.” In an April case challenging Arizona’s controversial immigration law, Scalia belittled the administration’s claim that the law might make Mexican leaders less willing to cooperate with the U.S. “So,” Scalia said, “we have to enforce our laws in a manner that will please Mexico?”

Scalia, a Ronald Reagan appointee now in his 26th year on the court, has never kept his thoughts to himself. Lawyers expect to be interrupted with queries and criticism from the other justices during oral arguments—but they gird themselves for the 76-year-old Scalia’s rapid-fire interrogations. His barbed commentary and putdowns rattle attorneys and often draw laughter from spectators in the gallery. In one case this year, he bombarded a government lawyer with 12 questions in 15 minutes.