The Legacy of Justice Antonin Scalia
2016; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 98; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1940-6487
Autores Tópico(s)Judicial and Constitutional Studies
ResumoScalia had a profound effect on the U.S. Supreme Court, consistently adhering to and promoting, sometimes scornfully, a strict constructionist application of the U.S. Constitution. U.S. Supreme Court has an incredible effect on American law and public policy and thus on our public schools. You cannot overstate its importance. sudden death of any justice would cause a stir. But Scalia's passing on Feb. 13, 2016, is of particular importance. He was one of the most influential justices on the most important bench in the United States. He is likely the best-known and most influential justice since William Brennan--an interesting irony, since the two were at opposite ends of the political spectrum. would be true of any high-profile political figure, Scalia's passing brought mixed reviews of his work: bless Anthony Scalia, finest Sup Ct RIP (Rep. Michelle Bachman, Twitter) The totally unexpected loss of Supreme Court Scalia is a massive setback for the Conservative movement and our COUNTRY! (Donald Trump, Twitter) Justice Scalia was a defender of the Constitution, an important conservative voice in the court. (Rep. Rand Paul, Twitter) Today, our country has suffered a deep loss, Scalia was one of the most consequential Americans in our history and a brilliant legal mind who served with only one objective: to interpret and defend the Constitution as written. (Sen. Marco Rubio, press statement) But not all comments were favorable. Antonin Scalia, who died this month after nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, devoted his professional life to making the United States a less fair, less tolerant, and less admirable democracy. Fortunately, he mostly failed. Belligerent with his colleagues, dismissive of his critics, nostalgic for a world where outsiders knew their place and stayed there, Scalia represents a perfect model for everything that President Obama should avoid in a successor. (Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker) Scalia joined the Supreme Court in 1986 as a Reagan appointee. Between 1986 and 2014, he was the deciding vote on 342 decisions, according to the Supreme Court database (http://supremecourtdatabase.org). He voted on the conservative side in nearly all of these decisions. When he was on the losing side of a decision, he often wrote a dissent. Sometimes, even when on the prevailing side of the case, he wrote a concurrence to make a particular point. some written opinions, he blasted his colleagues, the parties, and/or the attorneys representing them. Scalia had a profound effect on constitutional jurisprudence. This is true, generally and specifically, to education cases. On the major education cases, he consistently voted against using race in decision making, against claims related to the separation of church and state, and in favor of greater restrictions on students' rights. Here's a closer look at some of these cases and his opinions. Religion Lee v. Weisman (1992). Court held 5-4 that clergy-led prayers as part of a public middle school graduation ceremony were unconstitutional. Scalia wrote in dissent: In holding that the Establishment Clause prohibits invocations and benedictions at public graduation ceremonies, the Court--with nary a mention that it is doing so--lays waste a tradition that is as old as public school graduation ceremonies themselves, and that is a component of an even more long-standing American tradition of nonsectarian prayer to God at public celebrations generally. Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District (1993). Court unanimously held that the public school district violated the rights of a group by denying them after-school access to the school to show a religious film series. Scalia voted in the majority; he wrote a separate concurrence to criticize the traditional analysis used by the majority: As to the Court's invocation of the Lemon test: Like some ghoul in a late-night horror movie that repeatedly sits up in its grave and shuffles abroad, after being repeatedly killed and buried, Lemon stalks our Establishment Clause jurisprudence once again, frightening the little children and school attorneys of Center Moriches Union Free School District. …
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