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The Eyes of the Law: Justice Scalia Won’t Sign That Book

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 3:32 PM - By David Lat

Antonin Scalia headshot Justice Antonin Scalia Above the Law blog.JPGSome of you may recall our coverage (here and here) of Justice Antonin Scalia’s recent talk to promote his new book, Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges. The event took place here in Washington, D.C., in early June. As you can tell from our write-ups, we enjoyed the evening greatly (and will always treasure our signed copy of Justice Scalia’s book).

But not everyone left a happy camper. We received a heartfelt letter from an ATL correspondent whom we shall refer to only as “Nino Fanboy.” He sent the following letter to Justice Scalia, on the day following the event. We received a copy more recently. It begins:

Dear Justice Scalia:

I attended your book signing [on June 3rd] sponsored by the Federalist Society. For years now I’ve been a fond fan of yours. I would even call you my intellectual hero. I’ve always admired your charm and wit. But last night my image of you turned sour.

Several years ago I purchased a copy of A Matter of Interpretation [Justice Scalia’s 1997 book]. It has been a source of inspiration to me. I consider myself an ardent defender of Originalism. I attend the Catholic University, Columbus School of Law, and have engaged in several debates with classmates on the proper role of the courts and the best method of interpretation.

I bought a copy of A Matter of Interpretation (from which you received royalties) in the hopes that one day I would meet you and you would sign it. Last night I thought I’d found my opportunity. But I was waived [sic] away by you like a servant to a “philosopher king.”

Read the rest of Nino Fanboy’s strangely moving letter — this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg — after the jump.

Before we give you the rest of the letter, two quick notes. First, in Justice Scalia’s defense, the book signing was tightly run. Due to the massive turnout, there were a number of rules: (1) only one book signed per person, (2) no personalized inscriptions, and (3) no talking to the Justice. So Nino Fanboy, in asking the justice to sign an earlier book, may have been violating the spirit of these rules (and maybe the letter; there may have been a rule against asking Justice Scalia to sign anything other than Making Your Case, but we can’t recall right now).

(It’s understandable that the organizers wanted to process as many people as possible. But the setup was a bit “Soup Nazi”-ish. “No Scalia signature for you!”)

Second, to avoid any reporting errors like those that occurred in connection with Justice Scalia’s recent encounter with Sarah Jessica Parker, we reached out to the Court’s Public Information Office. We provided them with the entire text of the law student’s letter and asked if Justice Scalia or the Court might care to comment.

SCOTUS spokeswoman Kathy Arberg issued a “no comment.” But don’t say we didn’t try.

Anyway, here is the rest of the law student’s plaintive missive to his (former?) hero.

A LETTER FROM A LAW STUDENT TO JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA (continued):

The events I will describe to you are the truth. You said in your pre-signing speech that the one religious commandment you take with you into your work is ‘Thou shall not lie.’ I agree, therefore, this letter is the whole truth.

I spent my day with excitement as I was going to meet my idol that night. I made sure my book stayed in good condition all day (just as I’d done for years). It didn’t matter to me that in your earlier Q&A session you confused section two of the fourteenth amendment with the fifteenth amendment. I figured it was a simple slip (though I’m sure you would
have mocked anyone else for such a noticeable mistake).

I was one of the first people in line. I presented my book [A Matter of Interpretation], you took it, looked at the front cover, and gruffly said, “This is not my book. I won’t sign this book.” The book was pushed aside and you waived [sic] me away.

At first I thought you were joking. You had to be. Who doesn’t sign their own book at a book signing? Apparently you don’t. As the massive crowd poured in I tried to show you that the cover said in large bold print: ‘BY ANTONIN SCALIA.’ You were having none of it.

The event was free for me because I am a law student. In fact, I only went because it was free. I had class that night but skipped because this was going to be so much better than learning about informal rulemaking procedure in Administrative Law. I intended to buy your new book [Making Your Case] when I had the money. For now, I owned this book. It had inspired me. It was the one I wanted signed. And again, you’d already made the royalties off of it when I purchased it. So what could be the harm?

Bands tour the country all the time to plug their new albums. But I’ve never heard of a band not signing an old album when it’s handed to them by a fan. In fact, many bands would feel a since [sic] of nostalgia and pride that people still listen to their old work.

But you, sir, are much more like the baseball player who won’t sign a particular brand of card, or who charges kids for their signature. I guess it’s OK for people well off enough to afford your new book to get a signature, but not for a struggling student, who held you in high esteem.

I think it is important to note that you are a public servant. While you are not a member of the political branches, you nonetheless are on the public pay roll. It should be an honor for you to be admired so much that people even want your signature. But you have become arrogant and aloof in your marble castle up on the Hill.

If your intention was to sell book you have a funny way of going about it. Now I will never buy your new book, whereas I was looking forward to it before. I will tell everyone I speak to on the subject of Originalism and the Court how big of a jerk you were. I am not famous but I am well respected by those who know me. Any books you sell will not be from my recommendation.

But the worst part of it is that from now on and for the rest of my life I will never think of you the same way. From now on you will not be the lovable jerk you come off as. Instead you will be like a philosopher king growling at his peon subject.

Earlier in the evening you wouldn’t even take a picture with me. I understood because of the onslaught of photos that would inevitably follow. I had the honor of meeting Justice O’Connor, who was speaking at my school, a few months ago. After the event she was in a hurry to be somewhere. I asked if I could have a picture with her. Though she was clearly put out she took thirty seconds out of her life to do something nice for an admirer. In my life this has been true of Lenard [sic] Nimoy (Spok [sic] from Star Trek), Stan Lee (creator of Marvel Comics), Senator Cornyn of Texas, and former President Jimmy Carter. They were all busy people and they took a few seconds to do something nice for a fan and member of the public. There are stories John Wayne would talk to his fans for hours while his food got cold. What can I say? You’re no Duke.

I’m sure you won’t care about me or my letter. You may not even see it. If you do you’ll probably only correct the grammar and then throw it away. You’ll see yourself as the victim of a slanderous smear campaign by a looser [sic] fan who can’t afford a book. But you brought it on yourself by not taking a few seconds to sign a book you wrote at a book signing.

Your brilliance is unquestioned. You will always be loved by the believers in Originalism and the limited role of judges. I will always tout you as a legal theorist, but not as a man. It’s funny how two seconds and simple appreciation for a fan can make all the difference.

Sincerely,
[Nino Fanboy]

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