It's not all hard work at the Supreme Court these days, apparently.
While the Court is currently wrapping up the first month of the 2009 October Term, some of the justices have snuck out of the dreary confines of One First Street and gone out on the town(s) for a taste of the nightlife. First comes word via Above the Law that Justices Scalia and Ginsburg took in a night at the opera
together on Saturday in DC. The justices saw the opening performance
of "Ariadne auf Naxos" at the Washington National Opera, where they
were seated in a special VIP section onstage.
At one point,
Justice Scalia even participated in the performance when soprano Lyubov
Petrova jumped onto his lap, much to the amusement of the audience.
At
least one author, Josh Blackman, queried whether Scalia would consider
this sort of lapdance worthy of First Amendment protection, despite his
rulings in Barnes v. Glen Theatre Inc. and Erie v. Pap's A.M. Protected speech or not, the opera-loving justice is clearly enjoying himself in the photo on Above the Law's site.
Author Gay Talese reports that he had an intoxicating encounter with Chief Justice John Roberts at a Manhattan restaurant on Saturday as well.
Apparently the chief justice was seated with his wife at the table next
to Talese's party. Talese's table did their best to pretend not to
notice Roberts, until the chief justice made contact himself. As
Talese recounts:
. . . as they stood to leave, the chief justice himself said: "Excuse me,
but we cannot possibly finish this wonderful bottle of wine, and I
wonder if you'd like to try it."
"Oh, thank you, Mr. Chief Justice,'' I replied, and then added my
own admonishment (how brazen of me!) "... but only if you'll sign the
label.''
I'm not so sure the chief justice was entirely thrilled about being
asked to sign a wine bottle label, although Talese does say that
Roberts whipped out a pen and signed the bottle without hesitation.
And as one commenter pointed out, Roberts' move ensured that not a drop of wine was wasted. Nice.