Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (1936-2016)

• Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies at 79, by Robert Barnes. 02/13/16.
• Antonin Scalia, Justice on the Supreme Court, Dies at 79 New York Times 02/14/16.

Memories and Recollections

• Statements by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the rest of the Supreme Court of the United States. Slate.com 02/14/16.
• Antonin Scalia, Conservative Legal Giant, by Ross Douthat. New York Times 02/13/16:

  There were and are many legal theories and schools of constitutional interpretation within the world of American conservatism. But Scalia’s combination of brilliance, eloquence and good timing — he was appointed to the court in 1986, a handful of years after the Federalist Society was founded, and with it the conservative legal movement as we know it — ensured that his ideas, originalism in constitutional law and textualism in statutory interpretation, would set the agenda for a serious judicial conservatism and define the worldview that any “living Constitution” liberal needed to wrestle with in order to justify his own position.

• Why Antonin Scalia was a jurist of colossal consequence, by George F. Will. Washington Post 02/14/16.
• Justice Antonin Scalia, R.I.P. , by Ilya Somin. Volokh Conspiracy 02/13/16:

  But whether you agree with his views or not, it is hard to think of any other recent Supreme Court justice who has made a comparably great contribution to debates over both statutory interpretation and constitutional theory. It may be a long time, if ever, before we reach any consensus about Scalia’s legacy. But its importance cannot be denied.

• Our Mighty Rearguard, by Elliot Milco. First Things 02/14/16:

  ... He was morally engaged. His prose sparkled. He was the great champion of the Right, and he could not be silenced or voted out, no matter how much the press despised him. While his enemies pushed relentlessly to have their views enshrined as fundamental principles of free society, Scalia fought to keep the moral question open for debate, to maintain the possibility of reasonable dissent, because he believed that in a fair fight we could still prevail. He was the mighty rearguard in our long and slow defeat.

• Justice Scalia's Great Heart, by Jeffrey A. Tucker. "Now that he is gone from this earth, I can tell a story I’ve held inside for many years, a scene that touched me deeply and profoundly. I cannot think of him without remembering this moment. ..."
• A surprising request from Justice Scalia, by David Axelrod. CNN. 02/14/16.
• Scalia's relationships with opponents should serve as a model in US politics, by Emily Zanotti. The Guardian 02/14/16.
• (From the Archives): BFFs Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia agree to disagree Los Angeles Times by David G. Savage. Los Angeles Times 6/22/15. "Despite their standing as the intellectual lions of the left and right, Ginsburg and Scalia have forged an uncommon bond on a court where close friendships outside of chambers are rare."
• Why liberals should love Justice Scalia, by Michael McGough. Los Angeles Times 02/27/13:

  It isn’t just in search-and-seizure cases that Scalia takes a liberal -- some would say libertarian -- position. He’s an ardent defender of free speech (joining with liberal justices to overturn laws criminalizing the burning of the American flag as a protest) and has led a movement on the court to reinvigorate the confrontation clause of the 6th Amendment, which says that the accused has the right to be confronted with the witnesses against him. Scalia’s position on the confrontation clause is a good example of how his “conservative” jurisrpudence can be more protective of individual rights than the “living Constitution” approach of more liberal justices. ...

Scalia in his own words

• "Constitutional Interpretation" In a rare on-camera appearance, Justice Antonin Scalia spoke about issues involved in interpreting the Constitution, judicial philosophies, and the decision-making process at the Supreme Court. C-SPAN 03/14/05.