Antonin Scalia
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Justice Scalia is a vigorous proponent of textualism in statutory interpretation and originalism in constitutional interpretation, and a passionate critic of the idea of a "Living Constitution." He is generally considered more favorable to national power and a strong executive than his colleague Clarence Thomas.
Early life
An only child, Antonin Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey. His mother, Kathy Panaro, was born in the United States, and his father, S. Eugene, a professor of romance languages, had immigrated from Sicily. Five years later, the family moved to the Elmhurst section of Queens, New York, during which time his father worked at Brooklyn College in Flatbush, Brooklyn.[1]
A practicing Roman Catholic, he attended Xavier High School, a Jesuit school in Manhattan. He graduated first in his class and summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown College (Georgetown University) in 1957. While at Georgetown, he also studied at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland and went on to study law at Harvard Law, where he was a Notes Editor for the Harvard Law Review.[2] He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law in 1960, becoming a Sheldon Fellow of Harvard University the following year. The fellowship allowed him to travel throughout Europe during 1960–1961.
On September 10, 1960, Scalia married Maureen McCarthy, and together they have nine children: Ann Forrest (born September 2,1961), Eugene (a labor attorney, and former Solicitor of the Department of Labor), John Francis, Catherine Elisabeth, Mary Clare, Paul David (now a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Arlington at St. John's Church in McLean), Matthew (a West Point graduate and U.S. Army Major currently serving as an ROTC instructor at the University of Delaware), Christopher James (currently an English professor at the University of Virginia's College at Wise), and Margaret Jane (studying at the University of Virginia).
Legal career
Scalia began his legal career at Jones, Day, Cockley and Reavis in Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked from 1961 to 1967, before becoming a Professor of Law at the University of Virginia in 1967. In 1971, he entered public service, working as the general counsel for the Office of Telecommunications Policy, under President Richard Nixon, where one of his principal assignments was to formulate federal policy for the growth of cable television. From 1972 to 1974, he was the chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States, before serving from 1974 to 1977 in the Ford administration as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel.
Following Ford's defeat by Jimmy Carter, Scalia returned to academia, first at the University of Chicago Law School from 1977 to 1982, and then as Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and Stanford University. He also taught as a Visiting Professor in the Tulane University Law School summer abroad program.[3] He was chairman of the American Bar Association's Section of Administrative Law, 1981–1982, and its Conference of Section Chairmen, 1982–1983.
In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Scalia to be a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Four years later, in 1986, Reagan nominated him to replace William Rehnquist as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States after Rehnquist had been nominated by Reagan to serve as Chief Justice of the United States. Scalia, whose nomination was backed by liberals such as Mario Cuomo, was approved by the Senate in a vote of 98-0 (with Barry Goldwater and Jake Garn absent), and he took his seat on September 26, 1986 becoming the first Italian-American Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. It should be noted that there was very little controversy to his rise to Supreme Court Justice, partly attributed to the elevation of Rehnquist to Chief Justice, who received a lot more coverage.
His law clerks have included prominent figures such as Paul Clement, the Solicitor General of the United States under George W. Bush; Lawrence Lessig, a legal activist and professor of law at Stanford Law; Joel Kaplan, former Marine Officer and former Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy under President George W. Bush; Joseph D. Kearney, Dean and Professor at Marquette Law; and Stephen Calabresi, professor of law at Northwestern Law and founder of the Federalist Society.
Notable rulings
This section lists cases which form an essential introduction to Scalia's jurisprudence, views and writing style.
- Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578 (1987) (dissenting)
- United States v. Taylor 487 U. S. 326 (1988) (concurring)
- Morrison v. Olson, 487 U. S. 654 (1988) (dissenting)
- Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U. S. 815 (1988)
- Coy v. Iowa, 487 U. S. 1012 (1988) (cf. Maryland v. Craig, 497 U.S. 836 (1990), dissenting)
- Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361 (1989)
- Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989) (concurring)
- Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990) (author of majority opinion)
- Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois, 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
- Harmelin v. Michigan, 501 U. S. 957 (1991) (concurring in part and writing for the Court in part)
- Lee v. Weisman, 505 U. S. 577 (1992) (dissenting)
- Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992) (dissenting)
- Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District, 508 U.S. 384 (1993) (concurring)
- Mertens v. Hewitt Associates, 508 U.S. 243 (1993)
- Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996) (dissenting)
- United States v. Virginia, 518 U. S. 515 (1996) (dissenting)
- Wabaunsee County v. Umbehr, 518 U. S. 668 (1996)
- United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, 529 U.S. 803 (2000)
- Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000)
- Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U. S. 914 (2000) (dissenting)
- Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000)
- PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin, 532 U.S. 661 (2001) (dissenting)
- Rogers v. Tennessee, 532 U.S. 451 (2001) (dissenting)
- Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001)
- Adarand Constructors v. Peña, 515 US 200 (1995) (concurring)
- Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) (dissenting)
- McConnell v. Federal Elections Commission, 540 U. S. 93 (2003)
- Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U. S. 558 (2003), (dissenting)
- Hamdi v. Rumsfeld 542 U. S. 507 (2004), (dissenting, joined by Justice John Paul Stevens)
- Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36 (2004)
- Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005) (dissenting)
- National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X Internet Services, (dissenting)
- Gonzales v. Raich, Docket No. 03-1454, (concurring)
- McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky, Docket No. 03-1693, (dissenting)
- District of Columbia v. Heller, Docket No. 07-290 (author of majority opinion)
- 2005 Term
- Gonzales v. Oregon, (dissenting)
- Georgia v. Randolph, (dissenting)
- Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, (dissenting)
Barney Frank Interview on Justice Scalia |
Barney Frank Controversy
Congressman Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) who is known by many other than the Chairman of the House Financial Services committee and is an openly gay member of Congress. Frank recently stated a controversial opinion of Justice Scailia[4]
In a interview with the website 365gay.com, the Congressman was discussing gay marriage and his expectation that the highest court in the United States would some day be called upon to decide whether the Constitution allows the federal government to deny recognition of same-sex marriages as the issue has been raised on the ballot and initiative process in many state level courts.[4]
- "I wouldn't want it to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court," said Frank.[4]
Frank made this comment in light that Scalia dissented from the court's ruling in 2003 that struck down state laws banning consensual sodomy. The Massachusetts Congressman has complained about judges, rather than elected officials, at both the State and Federal level deciding questions of morality about which the Constitution is silent. The Congressman also said in his interview that controversial topics like gay rights and abortion should not be in the hands of judges as he called on people to persuade their legislatures or amend the Constitution.[4]
See also
External links
References
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