On Tuesday night Lisner Auditorium hosted Associate Justice Antonin Scalia for an informal interview with NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg, who has earned widespread recognition for her coverage of the Supreme Court. Prior to taking the stage, Scalia was introduced as certainly “one of the most outspoken conservative voices” on the Supreme Court, setting the stage for an interview that addressed Scalia’s legal views but also his personal experiences.
As the interview occurred on the same night as the State of the Union Address, Totenberg opened the interview by asking Scalia about his attendance record for the State of the Union, noting that Scalia hadn’t attended one in several years. Scalia explained that he felt the State of the Union had turned into “something of a circus,” describing what he felt was the comical standing-and-clapping of both sides of the room to demonstrate support for what the president was saying at the time.
The interview progressed to address Scalia’s core beliefs on issues such as constitutional interpretation, where Scalia affirmed his stance as an “originalist” or “textualist,” meaning he believes the Constitution should be defined by what “it was taken to mean at the time it was written.” Scalia explained that he dislikes referring to the Constitution as a “living” document and sometimes calls it “dead” as somewhat of a joke to express his views that the words of the Constitution are fixed in meaning. Scalia said that at the time the Constitution was written, there was no controversy about issues such as gay marriage, the death penalty, and women voting. He explained that the public of the time had already come to conclusions about these issues and had thus conveyed that meaning into the text of the Constitution. Scalia emphasized that this does not mean he doesn’t feel the Constitution can’t be amended—only that the words that already exist have a set definition.
Totenberg introduced other issues such as Super-PACs, where Scalia favors the disclosure of donors, and gun control, discussing Scalia’s District of Columbia vs. Heller decision against the ban of handguns. She also asked Scalia about his work experience. For example, how he wrote majority opinions and dissents. When asked about this, Scalia stressed the importance of dissent writing. Writing dissents, in Scalia’s opinion, helped to “keep justices honest,” so that the public clearly knew their viewpoints instead of seeing an anonymous vote. Scalia also explained how dissents could be gratifying if not now, sometime in the future. He cited a single justice’s dissent in the case of Korematsu vs. United States, the case that ruled Japanese American internment constitutional during World War II.
Although the interview addressed in-depth legal issues, it also included more personal and occasionally amusing questions about Scalia. Totenberg introduced a range of subjects that included Scalia’s black, fez-like hat at the presidential inauguration, his friendships and travels with fellow justices, especially riding on elephants with Ruth Bader Ginsberg in India and going game hunting with Elena Kagan, and even his high school extra-curricular activities.
In high school, Scalia broadcasted on a radio program entitled “Mind Your Manners,” where he and other hosts talked about proper etiquette to help students be more polite when attending dates and other social events.
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