Justice Alito Mouths 'Not True' at Obama Criticism

Though Supreme Court justices normally sit impassively during the State of the Union address, Justice Samuel Alito took unusual umbrage to President Obama’s criticism of the court’s recent ruling on campaign finance—mouthing “not true” when Obama said the decision “reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests.” Blogger John Aravosis sees the Bush-appointed Alito’s reaction as “highly inappropriate.”

Noting that the justices, unlike most members of both parties in the chamber, don’t clap when the president enters, “they are not supposed to respond to anything, lest it show bias.” It’s this speech’s “You lie!” moment, Aravosis writes for Americablog, referencing the yell by South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson during Obama’s address last year.
(More Samuel A. Alito stories.)