I probably should have a post documenting the original Justice Scalia accusation, but instead I am just going to link straight to the “Scalia Fires Back” post from Outside the Beltway. It contains Justice Scalia’s letter explaining his version.....

And just as importantly, Scalia also told the reporter to go get fucked up the ass, in Italian:
â??The judge paused for a second, then looked directly into my lens and said, â??To my critics, I say, â??Vaffanculo,â?? â?? punctuating the comment by flicking his right hand out from under his chin, Smith said.

Vaffanculo means "go get fucked up your ass."

So, rather than simply moving his hand under his chin to indicate "indifference," which is what Scalia claimed he was doing in an open letter to the Herald, in fact Scalia flipped off the media and used a phrase in Italian that is incredibly vulgar, and that only reinforces the gesture not being a sign of indifference, but the gesture itself meaning "fuck you" in Italian.

How could a reporter leap to the conclusion that it was obscene? I wonder...