Justice Alito may sit out State of Union

The president's annual State of the Union address, like much else in Washington, has steadily become more raucous and partisan.

The justices of the Supreme Court, who attend in their black robes, are expected to be neither raucous nor partisan and indeed, in the words of Justice Samuel Alito, expected to sit there "like the proverbial potted plant."

Not so the members of Congress. In an unfortunate tradition since the speech began being televised, the members of the president's party ostentatiously give the president a standing ovation when he makes a telling political point while the opposition sits with grim faces and arms folded.

The other outsiders on the House floor are members of the capital's diplomatic corps. But, unlike the justices, they often have issues before the lawmakers and the speech is an occasion to cultivate access.

According to Alito, there are pitfalls for an unwary non-partisan justice: "The president will face you out." According to the Associated Press, "The president will begin a sentence with an invocation of the country's greatness,'' Alito said. If the justices don't jump up and applaud, "you look very unpatriotic,'' he said. But if the president quickly appends a political point, the justices risk looking very partisan.

Alito himself caused a mild stir at last January's State of the Union. When President Obama criticized a Supreme Court decision on campaign finance, the TV camera panned to the justice where Alito could be seen mouthing the response, "You're wrong."

That was nowhere near the level of the overheated Republican congressman who shouted, "You lie!" at the president during an address on health care. But then Alito was part of the only group in the hall that is expected to maintain a sense of decorum.

He says he likely won't attend the speech next January, joining justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas in sitting out the speech, as did John Paul Stevens when he was on the bench.

The justices really don't need to be there, only if they want to. But it really would be stretching the etiquette of the evening if his seat were filled by a potted palm.

The article was published and distributed by Scripps Howard News Service (www.scrippsnews.com).