# Resolved: A SC Justice who uses terms like "jiggery-pokery" in his opinions ought to retire **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 30, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872 "2015-06-30T14:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/1 "2015-06-30T14:34:53Z")
Doesn’t Scalia have a lawn to protect somewhere? He seems to be deteriorating into ranting. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/2 "2015-06-30T14:44:50Z")
Pure applesauce. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/3 "2015-06-30T14:55:04Z")
In school, most of my applied math profs used the term “jiggery-pokery” to describe any sequence of mathematical manipulations that aren’t important enough to discuss, and I’ve picked up occasional use of the phrase to mean the same thing. I didn’t realize that it was supposed to mean _deceitful_ fiddling around instead of just _unimportant_ fiddling around. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/4 "2015-06-30T15:10:35Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Resolved: A SC Justice who uses terms like “jiggery-pokery” in his opinions ought to retire > > Doesn’t Scalia have a lawn to protect somewhere? He seems to be deteriorating into ranting. Resolution: Denied Apparently, Scalia’s vocabulary is larger than yours. That doesn’t make him a bad guy. \*jiggery–pokery - noun jig·gery–pok·ery \ˈji-gər-ē-ˈpō-kər-ē\ : dishonest or suspicious activity Full Definition of JIGGERY-POKERY : underhanded manipulation or dealings : trickery\* > **[Definition of JIGGERY-POKERY](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jiggery-pokery)** > > underhanded manipulation or dealings : trickery… See the full definition \*See jiggery–pokery defined for English-language learners - Learner’s definition of JIGGERY–POKERY [noncount] British, informal : dishonest or suspicious activity ◾There’s some jiggery-pokery [=hanky-panky] going on behind the scenes.\* > **[Jiggery–pokery Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/jiggery-pokery)** > > JIGGERY–POKERY meaning: dishonest or suspicious activity ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/5 "2015-06-30T15:14:19Z")
Regardless of what I might think of Scalia’s politics, I chuckle every time I encounter the phrase “jiggery-pokery”. For some reason, it’s just hilarious to me. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/6 "2015-06-30T15:16:45Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Resolution: Denied > > Apparently, Scalia’s vocabulary is larger than yours. That doesn’t make him a bad guy. > ] No, _that’s_ not what makes him a bad guy. He is, however, a dishonest old crank with bad politics and a very strange view of the law. Jon Stewart did a real nice job last night pointing out that Scalia is against the court throwing out laws like marriage bans but has no problem throwing out popular laws like the Voting Rights Act. He’s a douche. I wouldn’t mind him staying on the court a while longer if we can get two or three more adults on the court to insure Scalia will always be in the minority on important questions. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/7 "2015-06-30T15:22:25Z")
From my foreign viewpoint the only grown up on the US Supreme Court is John Roberts. Everyone else seems to have basically given up even the pretense of being jurists. Scalia incidentally is a good example of why a there should be retirement ages for judges, the guy is increasingly unhinged, this is sad, considering in his day, he was brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/8 "2015-06-30T15:23:01Z")
Bahhh… Word usage like that embiggens us all. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/9 "2015-06-30T15:30:15Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > From my foreign viewpoint the only grown up on the US Supreme Court is John Roberts. Everyone else seems to have basically given up even the pretense of being jurists. I think Roberts is just trying to get his name disassociated from the old conservative issues so he can be just as biased on new issues in the future. We’re stuck with him for a very long time. The most important legislation we need now is a way to get rid of these old corrupt bastards. I propose of a term of 2 years times the number of justices, so currently 18 years, and the CJ will be the senior justice for the remainder of his term. Too bad I won’t live long enough to see that or any other change to lifetime appointments. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/10 "2015-06-30T15:30:33Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > considering in his day, he was brilliant. Objection! Asserts facts not in evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/11 "2015-06-30T15:32:21Z")
Eh, SCOTUS opinions have always been a little whimsical. A few weeks ago, Kagan put a bunch of Spiderman references in a case in which Marvel was one of the parties. I don’t think it hurts anything, and will give future law-students something to cheer them up from their otherwise bleak existences. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/12 "2015-06-30T15:38:39Z")
Part of the audience for the opinion is future lawyers and justices. Memorable opinions are more influential. I generally think Justice Thomas has slightly better legal reasoning, but Scalia’s opinions are more fun to read and more memorable. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/13 "2015-06-30T15:38:48Z")
Is 'jiggery poker" a precise legal term? I like the opinion on lethal injection-it might “cause a painful death”…I’m shocked, shocked, I tell ya. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/14 "2015-06-30T15:42:04Z")
At least he didn’t say ‘niggardly’. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/15 "2015-06-30T15:51:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I think Roberts is just trying to get his name disassociated from the old conservative issues so he can be just as biased on new issues in the future. We’re stuck with him for a very long time. The most important legislation we need now is a way to get rid of these old corrupt bastards. I propose of a term of 2 years times the number of justices, so currently 18 years, and the CJ will be the senior justice for the remainder of his term. Too bad I won’t live long enough to see that or any other change to lifetime appointments. Disgaree, The Economist had a [very good write](http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2015/06/obamacare-and-gay-marriage) up about him this week. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/16 "2015-06-30T15:52:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I think Roberts is just trying to get his name disassociated from the old conservative issues so he can be just as biased on new issues in the future. He’s appointed for life. Why can’t he be just as biased on any issues he wants right now as well? ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/17 "2015-06-30T15:54:44Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > No, _that’s_ not what makes him a bad guy. He is, however, a dishonest old crank with bad politics and a very strange view of the law. Jon Stewart did a real nice job last night pointing out that Scalia is against the court throwing out laws like marriage bans but has no problem throwing out popular laws like the Voting Rights Act. He’s a douche. I wouldn’t mind him staying on the court a while longer if we can get two or three more adults on the court to insure Scalia will always be in the minority on important questions. Jon Stewart? The comedian? If Stewart made you laugh, that’s all that’s really important. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/18 "2015-06-30T16:00:33Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Jon Stewart? The comedian? If Stewart made you laugh, that’s all that’s really important. 🙂 [If he makes me laugh at Scalia](http://www.salon.com/2015/06/30/jon_stewart_rips_apart_justice_scalias_laughable_gay_marriage_dissent/), he’s done his job. Agreed. > [@](#): > > Scalia, as Stewart went on to explain, was all bent out of shape over the “select, patrician, highly unrepresentative panel of nine” acting out of turn. Yet, he seemed to have “no problem telling people to f\*ck off” in Citizens United. > > “Or, if the voters want a Voting Rights Act, and kept electing Congresses that kept renewing its anti-racial bias provisions by super-majority votes again and again,” Stewart said. “Then, not only did Scalia overturn it, he had no problem dismissing all those elected representatives’ motives for passing racial justice legislation in the first place.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/19 "2015-06-30T16:01:25Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Disgaree, The Economist had a [very good write](http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2015/06/obamacare-and-gay-marriage) up about him this week. It’s a subscription site, but I’m interested to find out what they say. > [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > He’s appointed for life. Why can’t he be just as biased on any issues he wants right now as well? The legacy thing, and he knows some of the old issues are losers. He wants to shape the court going forward instead of being known for maintaining the intractability on past issues. That’s my opinion of course, he hasn’t responded to my emails on the subject 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872/20 "2015-06-30T16:06:28Z")
Without commenting on any legal aspects of the case, I have been rather amused by the number of people commenting on the phrase “jiggery-pokery” as if it’s some nonsense coinage that Scalia made up out of thin air. On _The Nightly Show_, Larry Wilmore even wondered (perhaps jokingly) if it was vaguely racist. “Jiggery-pokery” is a pretty well established slang term meaning something like “cheating or trickery,” although I admit that its usage does seem to be mostly British. But I had certainly heard it before. It’s been used in _Doctor Who_, and it’s been used in _Harry Potter_, long before Scalia ever said it. Who knows, maybe Scalia has an unsuspected fondness for British SF and Fantasy. But yeah, there’s enough to criticize Scalia for without a criticism that essentially amounts to, “He knows a word that I didn’t! What a loser!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-a-sc-justice-who-uses-terms-like-jiggery-pokery-in-his-opinions-ought-to-retire/723872.md?page=2)