Althouse: "Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was robbed last week by an intruder armed with a machete..."

February 13, 2012

"Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was robbed last week by an intruder armed with a machete..."

At the Justice's vacation home on the Caribbean island of Nevis.

78 comments:

Mark O said...: I blame Bush.; 2/13/12, 6:20 PM
Anonymous said...: Is it true that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged?

Uh oh, lefties.; 2/13/12, 6:24 PM
Matt Sablan said...: I'm kind of surprised; I always assumed Supreme Court judges had protection like Congress people and the president.

A machete though? Props for style.; 2/13/12, 6:29 PM
Geoff Matthews said...: Seven Machos beat me to it.; 2/13/12, 6:30 PM
Amartel said...: "Is it true that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged?"

That rule only applies if you don't already have a free security force. (As the article points out, Souter was mugged in 2004 and White was attacked in 1982.) The rest of us are forced to realize we're on our own.; 2/13/12, 6:33 PM
mesquito said...: It's all this extreme rhetoric, you know.

extreme wv: ablaxvdk; 2/13/12, 6:33 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Is it true that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged?"

I don't know,but I was a conservative when younger, and moved leftward as I got older. I have been mugged and held up at gunpoint on a job I held years ago. These experiences did not alter my political viewpoint.; 2/13/12, 6:35 PM
bagoh20 said...: Now, THAT'S a knife.

Pure luck to be alive. His entire party could have been brutally murdered if the assailant so desired. It was entirely up to some unknown thug if you and your family lived or died.

One small firearm and hey, I get to decide if you kill the people I love. Why would anyone not have one?; 2/13/12, 6:37 PM
Matt Sablan said...: ... who keeps $1,000 in cash on hand?; 2/13/12, 6:37 PM
DaveW said...: I thought SCOTUS justices had SS protection. It seems very dubious to me that they apparently do not.; 2/13/12, 6:39 PM
Brian Brown said...: who keeps $1,000 in cash on hand?

The 1%, like Breyer!; 2/13/12, 6:41 PM
TWM said...: "I'm kind of surprised; I always assumed Supreme Court judges had protection like Congress people and the president.

A machete though? Props for style."

Few congresspeople have full-time security except when they are in the Capitol. The leadership usually does, but rank and file members, usually not unless there is a specific threat.

Supreme Court justices receive protection from the US Marshals Service when traveling, but can opt out of full time security.; 2/13/12, 6:42 PM
ricpic said...: I don't like Breyer and so what? Horrible when this happens to anyone.; 2/13/12, 6:42 PM
Matt Sablan said...: Unless they're counting something like traveler checks.; 2/13/12, 6:44 PM
TWM said...: I should also note that the US Supreme Court police provide security at the Court. The Marshals do it everywhere else. The US Secret Service has very specific persons they can protect.

"The president, the vice president, (or other individuals next in order of succession to the Office of the President), the president-elect and vice president-elect
The immediate families of the above individuals
Former presidents and their spouses for their lifetimes, except when the spouse remarries. In 1997, Congressional legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former presidents for a period of not more than 10 years from the date the former president leaves office
Children of former presidents until age 16
Visiting heads of foreign states or governments and their spouses traveling with them, other distinguished foreign visitors to the United States, and official representatives of the United States performing special missions abroad
Major presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election
Other individuals as designated per Executive Order of the President
National Special Security Events, when designated as such by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security."; 2/13/12, 6:45 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/13/12, 6:45 PM
rhhardin said...: I suspect Kagan.; 2/13/12, 6:50 PM
edutcher said...: I thought that sort of thing only happened here.

Nice of the good Justice to stay within the US and its Territories.

Robert Cook said...

"Is it true that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged?"

I don't know,but I was a conservative when younger, and moved leftward as I got older.

Assuming Cook is levelling, it's a prime example of devolution.

bagoh20 said...

One small firearm and hey, I get to decide if you kill the people I love. Why would anyone not have one?

Yes, but that would vindicate all those... Conservatives.

You know, the ones who believe in that... Constitution.

PS If he('d had a miraculous Breyer, we've given up on Cook) conversion to good sense, the Court would be short a Lefty.; 2/13/12, 6:51 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: On the bright side, this will enhance the richness of his experiences. Now he won't feel like such a richness-deficient schlub when the Wise Latina is around.; 2/13/12, 6:53 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: Wow! Nevis was the murder capital of the world in 2009. I was curious to see what the crime rate was. I always thought Caribbean islands (except for Jamaica) were safe.

So if US Marshals protect judges when they travel, how was he robbed? Where was his protection? Were they robbed too?; 2/13/12, 6:54 PM
TWM said...: "So if US Marshals protect judges when they travel, how was he robbed? Where was his protection? Were they robbed too?"

I suspect they did not travel with him as I said, he can decide when he wants protection or not.; 2/13/12, 6:57 PM
Michael said...: In Nevis they call a machete a cutlass. Ditto Granada.; 2/13/12, 6:59 PM
John Stodder said...: Is it true that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged?

Only if you assume the essence of conservatism is excessively long sentences for all criminals. But liberals are for that too.

The problem with today's conservatism is that it is based on a series of abstractions that are nonetheless true, e.g. the power of debt to sap a country's wealth, the danger of too-large government to do the same, plus strangle private efforts.

There's no "mugging" to clarify thought on that.; 2/13/12, 7:03 PM
edutcher said...: Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Wow! Nevis was the murder capital of the world in 2009. I was curious to see what the crime rate was. I always thought Caribbean islands (except for Jamaica) were safe.

Jamaica's pretty rough. Amusement parks there have signs banning weapons, drugs, etc. The Blonde and I have spent time there and you're told, "Stay on the tourist path". Same with Mexico.

As for other islands, last time we were on St Thomas (USVI), the skipper of the snorkeling boat we were on said there was a lot of tension between white and black. Heard something similar, though not as explicit on St Maarten. This was about 10 years ago.

Back during the recession in '91, I remember boats sailing between the islands were sometimes waylaid by pirates.

I've told Herself any vacas we take in the next couple of years are probably places we can drive to.

YMMV.; 2/13/12, 7:13 PM
shiloh said...: "I don't know,but I was a conservative when younger, and moved leftward as I got older."

So, you are much like Winston Churchill.

Congrats on your good sense to discover the truth! :); 2/13/12, 7:14 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: Michael said...

In Nevis they call a machete a cutlass. Ditto Granada.

Awesome. Good pirate stock, those Nevisians. Nevisites. Nevisonians/

Oh, by the way, Alexander Hamilton was born on Nevis.; 2/13/12, 7:15 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: That's one way to redistribute wealth.; 2/13/12, 7:20 PM
tim maguire said...: Robert Cook said...I was a conservative when younger, and moved leftward as I got older.

So you have neither a heart nor a head? Should I be surprised? Im not, not really.; 2/13/12, 7:27 PM
coketown said...: I'm glad everyone was alright. Breyer can probably recover some of that $1,000 by putting his soiled undergarments on eBay. "Jesus H. Christ, honey, the locals are revolting!" Then, remembering it's not the 1820's, he calmed down.; 2/13/12, 7:27 PM
Chip S. said...: The Second Amendment just got up out of its wheelchair and walked!; 2/13/12, 7:28 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: I was a liberal when I was young but then I found out that there really isn't a Santa Claus.; 2/13/12, 7:28 PM
Methadras said...: Matthew said...

... who keeps $1,000 in cash on hand?

I used to carry more when I used to play 9 ball as my chosen profession for a few years. Did very well at it, but it was an all cash business if you know what I mean and I always carried a gun too.; 2/13/12, 7:33 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: @TWM

On the bright side, in the future a few US Marshals are going to get an all expense paid vacation to exotic locales.

@edutcher

I always dreamed of retiring and buying a sailboat. I would sail from island to island. Now you say there are pirates. I might have to change my plans and buy a bigger boat with some cannons and fly the Jolly Rancher!; 2/13/12, 7:34 PM
Xmas said...: Hey Boss!

http://youtu.be/QyG0G96UB6k; 2/13/12, 7:35 PM
Michael said...: Shiloh. Churchill won as a Conservative and served as a PM as a Comservative. Your link was to a quote that was perhaps falsely attributed to Churchill but which would not refute his politics even if untrue. You are very poorly educated.; 2/13/12, 7:36 PM
Humperdink said...: So disappointed Nevis does not have machete registration and some controlling mechanism. These crimes are so unnecessary. Obama has to lean on the Nevis gov't. Can't afford to lose Breyer.; 2/13/12, 7:37 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @Bill,

I might have to change my plans and buy a bigger boat with some cannons and fly the Jolly Rancher!

I know you meant "The Jolly Roger" but when I imagined your ship with cannons & flying a pennant with a big green Jolly Rancher Green Apple candy, I laughed uproariously.

Thank you so much for the image, intentional or not!; 2/13/12, 7:41 PM
Michael said...: Shiloh. PS. Churchill was a Conservative PM in 1955 at the end of his career.; 2/13/12, 7:42 PM
MadisonMan said...: I was more fiscally liberal as a kid, and probably more socially conservative. Now I'm fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

Isn't a nevis a mole?; 2/13/12, 7:45 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: @youngHegalian

Hahahahahaha!

I should post when I'm drinking :)

But I like the idea now. The skull and cross bones would be little pieces of candy.; 2/13/12, 7:48 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: "... Now I'm fiscally conservative and socially liberal..."

If socially liberal means a generous welfare state, its pretty tough to be fiscally conservative.; 2/13/12, 7:49 PM
garage mahal said...: I was a liberal when I was young but then I found out that there really isn't a Santa Claus.

Oh come on, there are plenty of fairy tales you still believe in to keep you busy.; 2/13/12, 7:51 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: Edit: I should *not* post when I'm drinking.

Screw it. I'm too drunk to post. I'm driving home instead (joking).; 2/13/12, 7:51 PM
bagoh20 said...: See that's how you become a liberal: Either you are too young to know better, or when get older you just get bad information and fall for it. Either way you are a victim, but you can learn your way out.; 2/13/12, 7:52 PM
MadisonMan said...: @Hoosier, that's a false if in my case ;); 2/13/12, 7:53 PM
David said...: edutcher said...

Nice of the good Justice to stay within the US and its Territories.

That sneaky Bush must have annexed Nevis. Last I was there (about 1997) it was not US territory.; 2/13/12, 7:55 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: "... Oh come on, there are plenty of fairy tales you still believe in to keep you busy..."

I'm not the one who thinks we can continue to spend $1.3 trillion dollars more than we have.; 2/13/12, 8:00 PM
Penny said...: The male assailant took $1,000 in cash from FOUR, well-to-do vacationers?

$250 per person for 7 days in paradise?

And THIS, folks, is precisely why we all need to know some basic math while wielding our machetes.; 2/13/12, 8:04 PM
bagoh20 said...: I would be best described as conservatively social.; 2/13/12, 8:04 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: I'm back. I went to the ewoks place (wherelse to go to drunk comment) and Ace had two posts that pissed me off.

Santorum flapping his lips about birth control iand non procreative sex is not good for society and Federal policy should change. Now Pope Santorum wants to stick his nose into peoples sex lives.

The second was Obama refusing to fund school choice in DC. So disgusting. He sends his kids to private school while he keeps other peoples kids trapped in a failed system.

I really hate politicians.; 2/13/12, 8:07 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: I'm liberal when pouring bourbon.; 2/13/12, 8:09 PM
edutcher said...: David said...

Nice of the good Justice to stay within the US and its Territories.

That sneaky Bush must have annexed Nevis. Last I was there (about 1997) it was not US territory.

Never was, as far as I know.

Shoulda laid on the sarc tag /sarc.

My apologies.; 2/13/12, 8:13 PM
Big Mike said...: I don't know,but I was a conservative when younger, and moved leftward as I got older.

Leave it to you, Robert Cook, to reverse the normal trend.; 2/13/12, 8:25 PM
edutcher said...: Totally OT, but it's an interesting thought.

Bin Laden apparently had given up on jihad before he died.

So maybe Dubya won, after all.; 2/13/12, 8:26 PM
Jose_K said...: Breyer was part of the 7.2 majority reversing the ruling of the Florida supreme Court.
And his book on Regulation Reform is really balnced; 2/13/12, 8:31 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Bin Laden apparently had given up on jihad before he died.

So maybe Dubya won, after all.

I suddenly felt a great disturbance in the Force. As if millions of leftists cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.; 2/13/12, 8:34 PM
edutcher said...: Thank you, sir.; 2/13/12, 8:51 PM
KJE said...: Why is a Supreme Court justice residing in a vacation home in a tax haven?

Yeah, it is...

wv: hamlics

If that's like Rum Ham, I'm in...; 2/13/12, 9:09 PM
Fen said...: I used to carry more when I used to play 9 ball as my chosen profession for a few years. Did very well at it

Ha. I did the same to finance my tuition. Gave it up when I learned (the hard way) that there is always somebody out there better than you. And better at the con.; 2/13/12, 9:09 PM
Fen said...: Cook: I don't know,but I was a conservative when younger, and moved leftward as I got older.

Don't believe you. If it were even half true, your arguments wouldn't be so ignorant of basic conservative principles.; 2/13/12, 9:11 PM
Penny said...: "I would be best described as conservatively social."

Bago appears to be identifying his preferred method of interaction in real life. Thankfully, for us, he's liberally social at the Althouse salon.

Relatively speaking, of course.

One piece of advice. Embrace your adverbs... "Relatively" being one of the best.; 2/13/12, 9:22 PM
traditionalguy said...: Nevis was settled by the Spanish on Admiral Columbus' second voyage in 1493.

The British took it over later, but some wise Latinas may still live there.; 2/13/12, 9:25 PM
John Burgess said...: I was sponsor for Justices Breyer and O'Connor in New Delhi back in 2001. Sept. 12, as a matter of fact.

Neither traveled with security. As soon as they got off their planes, though (they traveled separately, with their spouses), they had guards up the wazoo. They flew back to the US a couple of days later, in a USAF plane, with armed escorts.; 2/13/12, 10:13 PM
Penny said...: "Cook: I don't know,but I was a conservative when younger, and moved leftward as I got older."

I admire you, Cook, for your cogent and consistent views. Even when we don't agree.

So? Embracing the adverbs, and RELATIVELY speaking... can you tell us what you consider your personal "younger" and "older" to be?

We're rounders here, so very much looking forward to where you place your decimal point in order to move this conversation forward constructively.; 2/13/12, 10:13 PM
William said...: They're sincerely looking for the machete wielder and will probably find him. Some other tourist, not so much....If I were pursuing a life of crime, I would avoid robbing Supreme Court Justices, the local DA, and Taylor Swift. They really come after you.; 2/13/12, 10:49 PM
James said...: Michael said...

In Nevis they call a machete a cutlass. Ditto Granada.

Not quite... they are two distinctly different implements. A machete has a straight blade while a cutlass has a longer blade with a curved end so that the weight of the blade is at the impact (cutting) point.

A machete would be used for tasks like harvesting bananas and a cutlass for clearing brush or cutting sugar cane.

But its probably all a distinction without a difference since I doubt Breyer, or the writer of the article, knows the difference between the two.

And I hate to be pedantic but its Grenada, not Granada which is in Spain.; 2/14/12, 4:57 AM
James said...: Forgot to add this video that shows the difference between a machete and a cutlass. The man in Hawaii is using a machete (although I've never personally seen one that wide or with a squared tip) and the vendor in Trinidad is using a cutlass (note the curved blade).

Cutting open a coconut Hawaii vs Trinidad; 2/14/12, 5:03 AM
James said...: Clarence Thomas probably has the best idea. He drives all over the U.S. in his RV and overnights in WalMart parking lots. No one bothers him even when he's recognized.; 2/14/12, 5:05 AM
Michael said...: James. You were correct on the spelling of Grenada but i have been in many shops in both countries and what i would call a machete, or what would be sold as a machete here, is there called a cutlass. I may have been in the wrong shops but i did not see a blade choice between cutlass and machete. I recognize that they are two different blades but apparently not to the locals.; 2/14/12, 5:27 AM
James said...: @Michael.
As I said its probably a distinction without a difference because here in the U.S. any large knife is generically called a machete. So in writing for a U.S. audience, its very likely that a cutlass is called a machete. (I doubt that Breyer, or the article's writer, really cares whether the weapon was an actual machete or cutlass).

Similarly, a large knife in the Caribbean would have a generic name "cutlass" although there are noticeable differences between a cutlass and a machete.

I can think of other examples like shovels vs spades. What the rest of the Caribbean calls a shovel is called a spade in Guyana, and vice versa.

Have you ever eaten roti? In Guyana, roti is a flat naan bread... when chick peas/dhall/channa is added its called dhall puri. In the rest of the Caribbean a roti is a dhall puri with a curry filling.

Although I now live in Wisconsin I'm originally from Guyana and my wife is from Trinidad; having lived in several islands it took me a while to understand the subtle differences in each place.; 2/14/12, 6:34 AM
James said...: Talking about roti made me hungry so I have to post this link; the comments are enlightening... http://www.tasteslikehome.org/2007/06/roti-called-dhal-puri.html; 2/14/12, 6:44 AM
Unknown said...: Machetes or cutlasses are not a weapon I would want to face without my .45. They seem to be the weapon of choice in the terrible events in Africa. I am glad that Justice Breyer and family are OK, whatever my political leanings.; 2/14/12, 6:50 AM
Anonymous said...: Robert Cook said...
"Is it true that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged?"

I don't know,but I was a conservative when younger, and moved leftward as I got older.
---------------------------------

Wow! Just like David Brock.; 2/14/12, 7:50 AM
Robert Cook said...: Fen, on my claim to having been a conservative when younger: "Don't believe you. If it were even half true, your arguments wouldn't be so ignorant of basic conservative principles."

Believe it or don't, I don't care. I registered as a Republican at 18 and voted for Gerald Ford in the first Presidential race in which was old enough to vote, and then for Ronald Reagan in 1980. (The last time I voted Republican.); 2/14/12, 7:59 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Wow! Just like David Brock."

Well, not quite like David Brock.; 2/14/12, 8:00 AM
Robert Cook said...: "I admire you, Cook, for your cogent and consistent views. Even when we don't agree.

"So? Embracing the adverbs, and RELATIVELY speaking... can you tell us what you consider your personal 'younger' and 'older' to be?"

Thank you for the kind words, Penny.

I was in my my 20s when my perspective started to change--a result of my growing up and beginning to see the world on my own, and encountering people with perspectives and experiences different than what I had been exposed to in my sheltered family life. My views had changed pretty dramatically by the time I was in my late 20s/early 30s.

My views today are still informed by the bedrock values my family taught me: to be honest and kind, to treat others with respect and as I would wish to be treated, and a belief in justice and fairplay.

As for how old I am now, (if that's what you're asking)...well, Lynyrd Skynyrd used to play at my high school when they were still a local act and before they ever had a recording contract, and Nixon started bringing home the troops from Viet Nam early in the year in which I turned 18.; 2/14/12, 8:19 AM
Michael said...: James. Not to put too fine a point on the cutlass/machete discussion but go to Google image and type in Cutlass. Then try Machete. Then try cutlass/machete. See what you see.; 2/14/12, 9:09 AM
Michael said...: James. Guyana!! You should read " Wild Coast" by John Gimlette. Great book about a great part of the world.; 2/14/12, 9:12 AM