Langauge Unbecoming of a Judge?

Readers of recent Supreme Court opinions in both the United Kingdom and United States might be surprised by some of the language used by Justices to describe the arguments set forth by their fellow Justices. In England, it has apparently become so bad that the President of the UK Supreme Court has now publicly called for his fellow Justices to show restraint when writing their opinions. As the Telegraph reports:

The president of the Supreme Court has chastised judges, saying that while it is "fun" to throw insults at each other they are damaging the reputation of the court. Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury urged lawmakers to stop their “abuse” and “hyperbolic criticism” of one another in their judgements because they risk undermining the authority of the judicial process.

This act of "throwing insults" is nothing new at the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Antonin Scalia has been doing it for almost thirty years calling the views of his fellow Justices "silly" "absurd" and "feeble."