Bwaaahahahaha.. Scalia was ticketed for a "fender-bender" on his way to work

[SoCalDem]

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-scalia-traffic-ticket-20110330,0,7499934.story

By Michael A. Memoli, Washington Bureau

March 30, 2011
Reporting from Washington—
The justice was served.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was ticketed by U.S. Park Police after being found responsible for a four-car traffic accident on his way to the high court Tuesday morning.

The incident occurred just before 9 a.m. on the southbound George Washington Parkway across the Potomac River from Washington in Virginia. Scalia reportedly rear-ended another driver who had stopped in traffic, and two other vehicles followed behind. No one was injured . Scalia was handed a $70 fine for the infraction of following too closely. The justice, in his 25th year on the nation's highest court, can appeal the fine to a U.S. magistrate if he chooses, according to a Park Police spokesman, while acknowledging that was unlikely.

"He probably hasn't a clue how to contest a traffic ticket," David Schlosser, the spokesman, joked.

snip

The incident further snarled the area's already notorious rush-hour gridlock. But Scalia ultimately reached the court on time for arguments in a gender discrimination case against shopping giant Wal-Mart.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[Kolesar]

2. Probably owns a luxury import that is all about snob appeal..eom

[lutefisk]

14. "a shiny black BMW..."

Brooke Salkoff saw it all go down. The former NBC reporter told us she was just behind Scalia’s vehicle, a shiny black BMW in the left lane. “It slammed into the car in front of his, which pushed the other two forward,” and caused them all to skew into the right lane, she said.

Now, just as when you're in a fancy restaurant and everyone turns their head to see who walked in, it’s only natural that everyone driving along a major commuter route out of McLean would want to rubberneck at something like this. Salkoff did, as her car inched past, and was rewarded by a surprising glimpse of a familiar face. Scalia was in a dress shirt, no jacket, with an unknotted bowtie hanging around his neck — and, interestingly enough, turned out to be driving himself. The car in front of his appeared pretty badly banged up, the other two less so. Scalia made it to the bench, though, in time for arguments at 10 a.m., a court spokeswoman said.

:rofl:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/justice-antonin-scalia-ticketed-for-gw-parkway-fender-bender-will-he-take-it-to-court/2011/03/29/AFqAkIxB_blog.html

[SoCalDem]

15. texting?

sexting?

:rofl:

[Obamanaut]

4. Will DU readers with weight control issues consider this insensitive? nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. remember Robert Novak

He started acting bizarre - Check
He began not making sense - Check
He began losing his temper - Check
He had car accidents - Check

A brain tumor would explain Scalia's behavior. I think we need to demand proof from him that he is not suffering from a fatal brain tumor.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. and demand his birth certificate, while we are at it.

[CanonRay]

9. Yeah, remove his brain for inspection

he won't miss it.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. LOL. Won't they have to find it first?

[cognoscere]

18. No problem for a proctologist with an electron microscope.

[mythology]

16. Except he's been like this for years.

So either it's the slowest growing brain tumor ever or he's just an idiot. When in doubt, choose the simplest solution.

[lunatica]

5. He'll pay it with the Sicilian Salute

[KurtNYC]

11. Of course he "rear ended" another vehicle

vaffanculo

[66 dmhlt]

13. Scalia has been known to do that before ...

[marmar]

7. He probably saw a McDonalds and couldn't keep his eyes on the road.

nt

[CatWoman]

31. HAHAHAHAHAHA

:rofl:

[Canuckistanian]

8. Arrest him. Lock him up. Solitary confinement.

And take away his underwear. Er, well maybe not.

[lonestarnot]

10. If we put him next to Reinquist, we won't have to do distance pissing.

[Cresent City Kid]

According to him

isn't a traffic ticket probable cause to search his vehicle?

[gratuitous]

17. Cause a four-car pileup and the ticket's only $70?

Nice.

[sad sally]

25. The arresting officer said he could fight it - yeah, right.

Sergeant David Schlosser has confirmed that Scalia was behind the wheel, and that he'd been fined a total of $90 for following too closely. Schlosser said that if Scalia doesn't like it, "he can contest it in court".
Which raises a series of questions:
1. Given the size of the accident, doesn't a fine $90 seem low?
2. Will Scalia try to get the ticket fixed?
3. If so, who's he going to call for the favor?
4. What sort of favor(s) will he have to provide in return?
5. If he contests it in court, will he argue his own case?
6. What judge on Planet Earth would rule against him?
7. Given Scalia's well-documented pride in his Italian American heritage, was anyone else surprised that he wasn't driving something a little more, well, Italian? Like a Chrysler?

http://www.motorauthority.com/blog/1057593_supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia-causes-four-car-pile-up-can-he-get-it-fixed?du

[gratuitous]

28. I presume Justice Scalia has the same rights as any other citizen

At least until he gets done stripping them away. So, yeah, he could fight the ticket. But $90 or $70 or however much it is hardly dents a fat wallet like his. So I'm guessing he has someone write a check, then he applies for a government limo and driver so he doesn't have to put up with this unpleasantness anymore, and the problem resolves itself.

There is a part of me that wonders if this citation would qualify as a "misdemeanor" intended by the Holy and All-Knowing Founding Fathers, who made constitutional provision for impeachment of high government officials for "high crimes and misdemeanors." No, nothing will come of it of course, but it brings a smile to my face just the same to contemplate the possibility.

[joeybee12]

19. One can only hope that the others in the accident sue him...knr...nt

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

20. Air bag saves douche bag.

[Laxman]

21. Does This Frighten Anybody Else?

"He probably hasn't a clue how to contest a traffic ticket," David Schlosser, the spokesman, joked.

I'm sure the "spokesman" thougt this was cute but having a top judge not understand the legal processes that most of us average joes deal with is extremely disturbing. Also, any first year law student (or anyone who has watched a minimun number of Judge Judy shows) would know how to contest this---if he had a defense. Sounds like an open and shut case of careless driving. probably was on his cell phone at the time.

[PurityOfEssence]

22. Once again, presuming he always has the "right" of way...

It'll be interesting to follow this one...

[Rex]

23. Sounds like Scarface has a lot of things on his mind nowadays.

Maybe worrying about some jail time or getting kicked off the bench and got distracted? Was he blabbing on a cell phone?

[lame54]

24. I hope the officer wasn't a woman

[onethatcares]

26. the U.S.Park police should have done this.

asked if he had anything illegal in his vehicle and for permission to search it. If he said "no" to both, they should have called for a dog and a

radio warrant and began taking the car apart on the parkway while the judge sat on the guardrail in handcuffs for the officers protection.


Hell, that's what they'd have done for any single black male.

[Contrary1]

27. Did the police "request" a breathalyzer?

Had it been any of us, they sure as hell would have.

[MadHound]

29. I don't believe this at all.

Scalia actually driving his own car to work. Not happening.

[stevedeshazer]

30. Tailgaters deserve a special place in hell.

I despise them. So, I'm not surprised that Tony himself is a tailgater.