Top 10 Scalia Zingers
A topical sampling of some of Scalia’s most memorable prose moments.
In all the squabbling over the nature of Justice Antonin Scalia’s legacy, even the most staunchly liberal commentators have conceded that the guy could really turn a phrase. Dahlia Lithwick, for example, found most of the man’s views “ugly and wrong,” yet expressed in ways that were “thought-provoking and stirring” and in sharp contrast to “the turgid plodding” of his SCOTUS colleagues. Love him or loathe him, enjoy this topical sampling of some of Scalia’s most memorable prose moments. (All examples are culled from Kevin Ring’s book Scalia Dissents (affiliate link).)
On the reliability of eyewitness testimony:
“Facial features are the primary means by which human beings recognize one another. That is why police departments distribute ‘mug’ shots of wanted felons, rather than Ivy-League-type posture pictures; it is why bank robbers wear stockings over their faces instead of floor-length capes over their shoulders; it is why the Lone Ranger wears a mask instead of a poncho; and it is why a criminal defense lawyer who seeks to destroy an identifying witness by asking ‘You admit that you saw only the killer’s face?’ will be laughed out of the courtroom.” Kyles v. Whitley
On judicial activism:
“If… I ever joined an opinion for the Court that began: ‘The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity,’ I would hide my head in a bag. The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie.” Obergefell v. Hodges
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On checks and balances:
“No government official is ‘tempted’ to place restraints on his own freedom of action, which is why Lord Acton did not say ‘Power tends to purify.’” Planned Parenthood v. Casey
On affirmative action:
“Under the Constitution there can be no such thing as either a creditor or debtor race …. In the eyes of government, we are just one race here. It is American.” Adarand Constructors Inc. v. Pena
On judicial restraint:
“The Court must be living in another world. Day by day, case by case, it is busy designing a Constitution for a country I do not recognize.” Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois
On abortion:
“It thus appears the mansion of constitutionalized abortion law, constructed overnight in Roe v. Wade, must be disassembled doorjamb by doorjamb…” Webster v. Reproductive Health Services
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On gay marriage:
“To allow the policy question of same-sex marriage to be considered and resolved by a select, patrician, highly unrepresentative panel of nine is to violate a principle even more fundamental than no taxation without representation: no social transformation without representation.” Obergefell vs. Hodges
On whether promoting racial diversity on campus is a governmental interest:
“This is not an ‘educational benefit’ on which students will be graded on their Law School transcript (Works and Plays Well with Others: B+) or tested by the bar examiners (Q: Describe in 500 words or less your cross-racial understanding).” Grutter v. Bollinger
On the right to die:
“The point at which the means necessary to preserve life become ‘extraordinary’ or ‘inappropriate,’ are neither set forth in the Constitution nor known to the nine justices of this Court any better than they are known to nine people picked at random from the Kansas City telephone directory.” Cruzan v. Missouri Department of Health
On religious freedom:
“A priest has as much liberty to proselytize as a patriot.” Good News Club v. Milford Central School
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