Justice Alito Attends Confab at Regent University - Media Barred From Event

As readers may have noted, I have a real problem with the partisanship behavior of some of the United States Supreme Court justices who seem to have a penchant for attending extreme right wing gatherings which bar access to the media. Yes, the justices have private lives, but when one attends a function and speaks in the capacity of a Supreme Court Justice, the event ought to be open to the media - or at least the portion that includes the statements made by the sitting justice. Unfortunately, the far right members of the Court do not seem to grasp the need for transparency and the avoidance of the appearance of bias and/or impropriety. The latest episode of a justice's failure to avoid the appearance of bias/impropriety is Justice Samuel Alito who was the keynote speaker for a banquet at noted Christianist Pat Robertson's Regent University Law School - the Alma Mater of Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell, the current governor of Virginia. As the Virginian Pilot reports, members of the media were barred from Alito's speech. Here are highlights:

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito addressed about 600 people in Virginia Beach at a private event at Regent University School of Law.

Regent University is a Christian school founded by religious broadcaster and one-time Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson. The university is celebrating the law school's 25th anniversary.

Alito was the keynote speaker on Saturday night at an anniversary banquet. The school did not allow news outlets to observe Alito's speech. School spokeswoman Mindy Hughes said Alito spoke about the importance of choosing the profession of law as a public service.

Alito is a former federal prosecutor who was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush. He was seated on the Supreme Court in 2006.

If the topic of Alito's speech was as advertised, why bar the media from hearing it? I subscribe to the rule that if one has nothing to hide, then they do not act as if they are hiding something. I suspect that it's safe to assume that Alito's remarks would have had a negative reaction if reported by the press and hence the media blackout.