Scalia seeks Justice over gesture

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's letter to the Boston Herald. (From the Boston Herald)

This is too much! This is from the Boston Herald:

Famously feisty Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia yesterday denied that he made an obscene gesture Sunday inside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, accusing the Herald staff of “watching too many Sopranos episodes.”

In a letter to the editor, an almost unheard-of step for a Supreme Court justice, Scalia said a reporter misinterpreted the gesture he made when she asked whether his participation in Sunday’s special Mass for lawyers might cause some people to question his impartiality in matters of church and state.

“Your reporter, an up-and-coming ‘gotcha’ star named Laurel J. Sweet, asked me (o-so-sweetly) what I said to those people. . .,” Scalia wrote to Executive Editor Kenneth A. Chandler. “I responded, jocularly, with a gesture that consisted of fanning the fingers of my right hand under my chin. Seeing that she did not understand, I said, ‘That’s Sicilian,’ and explained its meaning.”

In his letter, Scalia goes on to cite Luigi Barzini’s book, “The Italians”: “ ‘The extended fingers of one hand moving slowly back and forth under the raised chin means: “I couldn’t care less. It’s no business of mine. Count me out.” ’ ”

“From watching too many episodes of the Sopranos, your staff seems to have acquired the belief that any Sicilian gesture is obscene - especially when made by an ‘Italian jurist.’ (I am, by the way, an American jurist.)”

Unlike most of his colleagues, Scalia is not shy about taking on the media, and has a penchant for doing so in a way that has caused some critics to question his decorum, if not his maturity.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia denied making an obscene gesture. (Boston Herald File Photo)

It is amazing--the more Scalia flaps his mouth, the more trouble he gets into. Now he's attacking the Boston Herald staff, claiming they've been watching too many Soprano episodes? Gee Scalia--who are you suppose to be? Tony Soprano? If you can't use your Sicilian hand gestures on Boston Herald reporters, then what else can you use--a 9mm Beretta?

Here's the link to Scalia's letter.