The funniest Justice, week 13: Environmental laughter

By Kimberly Atkins Dolan Media Newswires BOSTON, MA--During oral arguments Tuesday in the global warming case American Elec. Power Co. v. Connecticut, Justice Stephen Breyer played unwitting set-up man. ''Well, why is it less intrusive to try to get into the details of how an electricity company will in fact run its operation, than to say all you have to do is make a change in the dollar sign that you charge for your product?'' asked Breyer. After New York Solicitor General Barbara Underwood gave her answer, Justice Antonin Scalia piped in with an observation. ''I wish Justice Breyer had made this argument in the EPA case,'' Scalia quipped, drawing laughter from an audience that must have been familiar with the ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA, in which Breyer and Scalia found themselves on opposite sides. With only one week left before the Funniest Justice race wraps up for the term, Scalia padded his lead with three laugh-earning comments this week. Justice Samuel Alito also reminded court goers that he too can be funny, picking up one additional laugh. Here are the standings after 13 weeks of arguments: Justice Antonin Scalia: 44 Justice Stephen Breyer: 30 Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.: 21 Justice Anthony Kennedy: 8 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: 4 Justice Samuel Alito: 3 Justice Elena Kagan: 2 Justice Sonia Sotomayor: 1 Justice Clarence Thomas: 0 (His last oral argument comment was on Feb. 22 2006.) Entire contents copyrighted © 2011 by Dolan Media Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is expressly forbidden. Published: Thu, May 12, 2011