Prop. 8: Antonin Scalia surprisingly tame in marriage equality hearing

Justice Scalia lays a gay marriage trap for Ted Olson. There was a silly fertility joke about Strom Thurmond, but Scalia Watchers hoping to see the famously acid-tongued justice in action were out of luck Tuesday. The irascible U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who has been outspoken (some think inappropriately so) on the issue of gay marriage, was pretty tame in his comments and questions during arguments about California’s gay marriage ban. It’s pretty clear Scalia does not find any protection for gays and gay marriage in the country’s essential document. But there was one exchange with Ted Olson, the conservative attorney who has spent the last few years fighting for gay civil rights, that had me scratching my head. It seemed as if Scalia were laying a trap for Olson, but what was the trap exactly?