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Rough Morning Commute? Justice Scalia Was Right There With You

The morning after an incident shut down a major subway line in Washington, D.C., traffic snafus made lots of drivers late, including Justice Antonin Scalia, pictured in 2013.
Josh Reynolds
/
AP
The morning after an incident shut down a major subway line in Washington, D.C., traffic snafus made lots of drivers late, including Justice Antonin Scalia, pictured in 2013.

A Washington, D.C., suburbanite had trouble getting to work Tuesday, leaving a key task to the boss.

At the U.S. Supreme Court, two unanimous opinions, both written by Justice Antonin Scalia, were handed down, but Scalia was missing in action. Chief Justice John Roberts summarized the opinions from the bench because Scalia was ... stuck in traffic.

Washington traffic was a nightmare early Tuesday, the morning after smoke in a subway tunnel and train shut down a major subway line. Lots of suburbanites who normally use mass transit took to the highways instead. The result: traffic snafus all over the place making lots of drivers, including Scalia, late.

The justice came in huffing and puffing only a few minutes late and in time to hear Tuesday's oral arguments.

It's not the first time Scalia's commute has been star-crossed. A 2011 fender bender was bad enough that his car had to be towed away. But he made it to the bench that day in time.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Nina Totenberg is NPR's award-winning legal affairs correspondent. Her reports air regularly on NPR's critically acclaimed newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition.