TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Tuesday that the scene at President Obama's first State of the Union address was "very troubling" and that the annual speech to Congress has "degenerated into a political pep rally."
Responding to a University of Alabama law student's question about the Senate's method of confirming justices, Justice Roberts said senators improperly try to make political points by asking questions they know nominees can't answer because of judicial ethics rules.
"I think the process is broken down," he said.
During the January address, with six of the court's nine justices seated before him in their black robes, Mr. Obama chided the court for its campaign finance decision.
Justice Roberts said he wonders whether justices should attend the address.
"To the extent the State of the Union has degenerated into a political pep rally, I'm not sure why we're there," said Justice Roberts, a Republican nominee who joined the court in 2005.
He said that anyone is free to criticize the court and that some have an obligation to do so because of their positions.
"So I have no problems with that," he said. "On the other hand, there is the issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum. The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court -- according the requirements of protocol -- has to sit there expressionless, I think, is very troubling."
Breaking from tradition, Mr. Obama used the speech to criticize the court's decision that allows corporations and unions to spend money freely to run political ads for or against specific candidates.
"With all due deference to the separation of powers, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests -- including foreign corporations -- to spend without limit in our elections," Mr. Obama said.
