Scalia to Address Tea Party Group

In yet another validation of the tea party movement’s strength, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will speak Monday about the separation of powers at an event organized by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and her Tea Party Caucus. Bachmann’s office invited all members of Congress to attend, and some Democrats accepted the invitation, Politico reports.

The lecture has drawn criticism from the left. The New York Times editorial board last month urged Scalia to cancel the engagement. “By meeting behind closed doors, as is planned, and by presiding over a seminar, implying give and take, the justice would give the impression that he was joining the throng — confirming his new moniker as the ‘Justice from the Tea Party,’” the board writes.

But Bachmann counters: “It is a special privilege to have him address the first of what will be regular seminars featuring constitutional scholars. In his 24 years of service on the high court, Justice Scalia has distinguished himself by his ‘originalist’ approach to constitutional interpretation.”