Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito made a few jokes at the expense of foreign leaders to criticize the decision he authored that overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the right to individual states to decide on abortion laws.
The comments were made at Alito’s first public speaking event since the ruling went public.
“I had the honor this term of writing, I think, the only Supreme Court decision in the history of that institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaders — who felt perfectly fine commenting on American law,” he said at the Religious Liberty Summitt in Rome, Italy, in late July.
“One of these was former Prime MinisterBoris Johnson, but he paid the price,” he said to laughs from the crowd as he referenced Johnson’s recent resignation over ethical issues.
“But what really wounded me — what really wounded me — was when the Duke of Sussex addressed the United Nations and seemed to compare the decision, whose name may not be spoken, with the Russian attack on Ukraine,” Alito said of Prince Harry‘s remarks.
Prince Harry had noted that he believed the decision to be a “big step backward.”
Alito received criticism for his response, as some claimed it is not appropriate behavior for Supreme Court justices to respond to outside critics.
