--- title: State of the Union 2015: Supreme Court Justices description: For years, attendance among the justices has been declining. The justices feel they are forced to sit at a "political pep rally." canonical: https://time.com/3672123/state-of-the-union-supreme-court/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-21T02:18:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:39:26.814Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why 3 Supreme Court Justices Didn't Attend the State of the Union og:description: They don't like sitting "like the proverbial potted plant." og:url: https://time.com/3672123/state-of-the-union-supreme-court/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03fdbfa66aa05e54/69877a7935ba6f275dc0691d/466751643.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Obama Delivers State Of The Union Address At U.S. Capitol og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why 3 Supreme Court Justices Didn't Attend the State of the Union twitter:description: They don't like sitting "like the proverbial potted plant." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03fdbfa66aa05e54/69877a7935ba6f275dc0691d/466751643.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why 3 Supreme Court Justices Didn't Attend the State of the Union > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 21, 2015 2:18 AM UTC  Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy listen to President Barack Obama deliver the 2014 State of the Union address. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy listen to President Barack Obama deliver the 2014 State of the Union address.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 21, 2015 2:18 AM UTC The wording in the Constitution is simple and straightforward: the President “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union.” There’s nothing in there about the Supreme Court justices and, accordingly, there’s nothing simple and straightforward about their attendance. This year, six justices were in attendance, while three of the most conservative members of the court, Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, were noticeably absent. In the modern era, custom has held that the justices would show up in their official robes and sit impassively. But in recent years, they’ve become more resistant to the tradition. Justice Antonin Scalia’s absence is no surprise. It was the 19th State of the Union in a row that he’s skipped since he considers the speech a “[childish spectacle](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/scalia-state-of-the-union-has-turned-into-a-childish-spectacle/).” Justice Clarence Thomas’s empty seat was also unsurprising. In 2012, Thomas said he doesn’t attend the annual event because “[it has become so partisan and it’s very uncomfortable for a judge to sit there](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/clarence-thomas-state-of-the-union-too-partisan-for-a-justice/).” Thomas’s remark gets to the heart of why the State of the Union has become a painful event for the justices: the address has become a “[political pep rally](http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/10/obama.supremecourt/),” according to Chief Justice John Roberts (who still attends nonetheless), as the justices are forced to sit calmly while the President and members of government around them cheer and crow about the politics of the moment. For years, attendance among the justices has been declining: From 1965 through 1980, the attendance rate was 84 percent. Over the next two decades, the number dropped to 53 percent. Since 2000, the rate has fallen to 32 percent, according to [a study](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/sotu%280%29.pdf) by Todd Peppers of Roanoke College and Michael Giles of Emory University. This tension between the speech and the highest court in the land came to a head in 2010, when President Obama directly criticized a conservative Supreme Court decision. “With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that, I believe, will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections,” he said of the _Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission_ decision, which allowed corporations to donate to political candidates. Justice Samuel Alito then shook his head and whispered, “not true.” This was a clear breaking point in the years of simmering discontent between the justices and the annual speech. After the 2010 State of the Union, Alito said the speeches have become too awkward and that the justices have to sit there “[like the proverbial potted plant](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/16/supreme-court-justice-alito-plans-skip-state-union-address/)”and he hasn’t been to a State of the Union since. Justice Stephen Breyer, a liberal, is the only justice that attends every year (in fact, three times in recent history he has been the only justice in attendance), but his defense was hardly inspiring: “[People attend if they wish to attend. I do wish to attend, so I go](http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/08/politics/state-of-the-union-court/),” he said in 2005. Tonight there probably won’t be any public controversy between between the President and the justices in the vein of 2010’s “not true.” But the grim faces of the six in attendance speak volumes. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3672123/state-of-the-union-supreme-court/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3672123/state-of-the-union-supreme-court/"},"headline":"Why 3 Supreme Court Justices Didn't Attend the State of the Union","datePublished":"2015-01-21T02:18:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:39:26.814Z","description":"For years, attendance among the justices has been declining. 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