Res Ipsa Blog

Charming and surprisingly funny, at 72, Scalia seemed to be twenty years younger and in the best of health during his interview that aired today on 60 Minutes. “Nino,” as he is affectionately known, is only child and was born to his Italian immigrant parents. Scalia grew up in Queens, New York and eventually earned his own way into Harvard through persistence and hard work.

In his first-ever major television interview, Scalia provided insight into his position as an originalist, someone who believes that the Constitution means what the drafters originally intended for it to mean. He does not believe in a “living Constitution” that evolves with the times and needs of the citizens. Instead, he believes in an “enduring Constitution” and that change should take place through the legislature, not “activist judges” who try to find rights in the Constitution that simply can’t be found in the Constitution. The only other originalist on the Court is Clarence Thomas.

His ideological position has forced him to make decisions that contradict his own socially-conservative beliefs. For example, in Texas v. Johnson, Scalia joined the majority ruling that flag-burning was protected by the First Amendment. Scalia commented, “If it were up to me, I would throw that bearded, sandal-wearing, flag-burner in jail.”

Commenting on torture, another hot-button issue, Scalia commented that defining torture would be a challenge. He said that he, like most everyone else, was against torture, but not “everything that is hateful and odious is covered by some provision of the Constitution.”

On being a close friend of his liberal benchmate Ginsburg despite their opposing views, Scalia commented, “I attack ideas, I don’t attack people, and some very good people have some very bad ideas. And if you can’t separate the two, you got to get another day job. You don’t want to be a judge, at least not a judge on a multi-member panel.”

Scalia’s new book, Making Your Case, the Art of Persuading Judges, will address how lawyers should address the Court. His co-author is Bryan A. Garner, the editor of Black’s Law Dictionary and author of The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style.

Update: Bryan A. Garner speaks out about the book on the West Blog. Tune in. (mp3 podcast)

Written by Benson Varghese. ♦ Contact Benson.♦ Have Res Ipsa Blog delivered to you.