(AP) Justice Scalia Chastises Boston Newspaper

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Justice Scalia Chastises Boston Newspaper

2 hours, 57 minutes ago, (Wednesday, March 29, 2006)



BOSTON (AP) - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in a scathing letter to the editor of the Boston Herald, accused the newspaper's staff of watching "too many episodes of the Sopranos" for interpreting a hand gesture he made at a cathedral as obscene.

The Boston Herald reported Monday the justice made "an obscene gesture, flicking his hand under his chin" in response to a question about whether lawyers might question his impartiality in matters of church and state. The incident occurred after he attended Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

But Scalia said in his letter the gesture is not obscene at all, but dismissive. Scalia said he had explained the gesture's meaning to no avail to the reporter, whom he referred to as "an up-and-coming 'gotcha' star."

. . . snip . . .

Scalia said in the letter, written to Executive Editor Kenneth Chandler, that the reporter leapt to conclusions that it was offensive because he initially explained his gesture by saying, 'That's Sicilian.'"

"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.)," he wrote.

. . . more at . . . http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060329/ap_on_go_su_co/scal...

Alleged gesture (of Italian origin) at issue in this newest Scalia "bad boy saga" . . .

For resource background on this Scalia's newest "bad boy saga," including Scalia's LTTE of the Boston Herald and other hyperlinks to relevant Boston Herald newspaper articles, go to http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... which is a post (#12) w/i this DU LBN thread.