| WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts said the State of the Union has "degenerated into a political pep rally" and suggested justices should not attend the address. SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS Speaking to a group of law students Tuesday, Roberts said he found it "very troubling" during President Barack Obama's address this year for members of the Supreme Court to be surrounded by members of Congress who cheered when Obama found fault with a court ruling that abolished limits on political campaign spending by corporations and labor unions. Responding Wednesday, the White House pointed to the ruling Obama mentioned in the address. "What is troubling is that this decision opened the floodgates for corporations and special interests to pour money into elections -- drowning out the voices of average Americans", White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said at a briefing. "The president has long been committed to reducing the undue influence of special interests and their lobbyists over government. That is why he spoke out to condemn the decision and is working with Congress on a legislative response." Roberts told his audience of University of Alabama School of Law students the State of the Union address has "degenerated into a political pep rally." "The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court -- according to the requirements of protocol -- has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling", he said. Roberts said he was not bothered by the criticism, the Los Angeles Times reported, but by having to sit silently in observance of protocol. Justices John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas were not at the State of the Union address. Scalia and Thomas have said in the past they think the event has become a partisan pep rally that justices should not attend, the Times said. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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