Antonin Scalia
Antonin Scalia was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, he was often described as the intellectual anchor of the Court’s conservative wing. Antonin Gregory Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey on March 11, 1936. He attended Georgetown University as an undergraduate and obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from Harvard Law School. After spending six years in a Cleveland law firm, he became a law school professor. In the early 1970s, he served in the Nixon and Ford administrations, first at minor administrative agencies, and then as an assistant attorney general. He spent most of the Carter years teaching at the University of Chicago, where he became one …show more content…
He considered the Constitution to be a statute, which cannot be changed over time. Many suspected that his real intention was to turn back certain decisions of the 1960s and 70s that were passed by the Warren and Burger Courts. He was described by Congressman Barney Frank as a “homophobe,” and by political columnist Maureen Dowd as “Archie Bunker in a high-backed chair.” During oral arguments before the Court, Scalia usually asked more questions than other justices, and a 2005 study found that he provoked laughter more often than any of his colleagues. His goal during oral arguments was to get across his position to the other justices. In cases pitting the powers of the federal government against those of the states, Scalia often took the states’ positions. In 1997, the Supreme Court considered the case of Printz v. United States, a challenge to certain provisions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act which required chief law enforcement officers of localities in states to perform certain duties. Scalia wrote the Court’s majority decision, which ruled that the provision which imposed those duties violated the Tenth Amendment, which reserves to the states and to the people those powers not granted to the federal
Antonin Scalia was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, he was often described as the intellectual anchor of the Court’s conservative wing. Antonin Gregory Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey on March 11, 1936. He attended Georgetown University as an undergraduate and obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from Harvard Law School. After spending six years in a Cleveland law firm, he became a law school professor. In the early 1970s, he served in the Nixon and Ford administrations, first at minor administrative agencies, and then as an assistant attorney general. He spent most of the Carter years teaching at the University of Chicago, where he became one …show more content…
He considered the Constitution to be a statute, which cannot be changed over time. Many suspected that his real intention was to turn back certain decisions of the 1960s and 70s that were passed by the Warren and Burger Courts. He was described by Congressman Barney Frank as a “homophobe,” and by political columnist Maureen Dowd as “Archie Bunker in a high-backed chair.” During oral arguments before the Court, Scalia usually asked more questions than other justices, and a 2005 study found that he provoked laughter more often than any of his colleagues. His goal during oral arguments was to get across his position to the other justices. In cases pitting the powers of the federal government against those of the states, Scalia often took the states’ positions. In 1997, the Supreme Court considered the case of Printz v. United States, a challenge to certain provisions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act which required chief law enforcement officers of localities in states to perform certain duties. Scalia wrote the Court’s majority decision, which ruled that the provision which imposed those duties violated the Tenth Amendment, which reserves to the states and to the people those powers not granted to the federal