Did Scalia hint at a health care law KO?

By Kimberly Atkins Dolan Media Newswires BOSTON, MA--As several of the justices of the Supreme Court spent the off week attending events around the country, members of the media asked them obligatory questions about the pending challenge to the federal health care law, which was heard last week. Justices usually demur when faced with such requests, refusing to make out-of-court statements on pending cases and sticking to other subjects, like antelope hunting. But Justice Antonin Scalia took an interesting approach to not answering a question about President Barack Obama's much discussed "judicial activism" comment, according to the AP (via the WSJ's Law Blog): "We don't respond to criticism," Scalia said in comments to students at the University of Southern Mississippi. "Judges use what's known as the rope-a-dope trick. It's judicial tradition." What is a "rope-a-dope," you ask? Law Blog explains that it's a boxing move used by Muhammad Ali, whereby a boxer leans against the ropes as his opponent pummels away. The shots that are not blocked are absorbed by the rope's elasticity. Once the opponent is tired, the boxer has conserved enough energy to make a knockout punch. So did Scalia suggest that he'd take Obama's shots for now, only to come back with a ruling that knocks out the health care law? Only nine people know for sure - the justices took their initial vote on the case during a closed-door session last Friday. Entire contents copyrighted © 2012 by The Dolan Company. Published: Thu, Apr 19, 2012