Judges Use 'Rope-a-Dope Trick' When Faced with Criticism, Scalia Says
Corrected: Speaking at the University of Southern Mississippi on Wednesday evening, Justice Antonin Scalia declined to answer a question about President Obama’s recent assertion that overturning the health care law would be an “unprecedented, extraordinary” step of judicial activism.
Scalia went on to explain how judges deal with criticism, the Associated Press reports. “We don’t respond to criticism,” Scalia said. “Judges use what’s known as the rope-a-dope trick. It’s judicial tradition.”
During the speech, Scalia also defended the court’s recent decision upholding the strip search of a man jailed after his arrest for a minor offense, according to AP and the Hattiesburg American. Scalia said jail security outweighs the violation of being strip searched. The requirement protects prisoners who are thrown in with the general prison population, “which may contain some very nasty people,” Scalia said.
“The same folks who would sue about getting strip-searched are the same folks who would be suing after getting injured by a shiv,” he said.
Corrected on April 6 to list the venue as the University of Southern Mississippi.
Correction
Corrected on April 6 to list the venue as the University of Southern Mississippi.
