The justice was served.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was ticketed by U.S. Park Police after being found responsible for a four-car traffic accident on his way to the high court Tuesday morning.

The incident occurred just before 9 a.m. on the southbound George Washington Parkway across the Potomac River from Washington in Virginia. Scalia reportedly rear-ended another driver who had stopped in traffic, and two other vehicles followed behind. No one was injured.

Scalia was handed a $70 fine for the infraction of following too closely. The justice, in his 25th year on the nation’s highest court, can appeal the fine to a U.S. magistrate if he chooses, according to a Park Police spokesman, while acknowledging that was unlikely.


“He probably hasn’t a clue how to contest a traffic ticket,” David Schlosser, the spokesman, joked.

He added that it’s not unusual for area law enforcement to handle infractions like this involving high profile government officials.

“It was a busy traffic area,” Schlosser said. “It just happens.”

The incident further snarled the area’s already notorious rush-hour gridlock. But Scalia ultimately reached the court on time for arguments in a gender discrimination case against shopping giant Wal-Mart.


michael.memoli@latimes.com